We’re talking today with Amy Cross, sometimes known as the “Strawberries in a Jar Lady” host of the Cross Legacy blog. Amy has become widely known for her food storage hacks. And when we say widely known, her strawberries in a jar hack was shared over 18 million times within days.

Amy talks about being trapped at home early in the pandemic, and realizing that she has such good knowledge of how to keep produce fresh longer, and how to make it stretch as far as possible. Since then, she has been interviewed by newspapers all of the world to share her amazing techniques.

Amy Cross Strawberries In a Jar Episode Transcript

Hello, friends, and welcome to the Exploring Washington State podcast. My name is Scott Cowan, and I’m the host of the show. Each episode, I have a conversation with an interesting guest who is living in or from Washington State. These are casual conversations with real and interesting people. I think you’re gonna like the show. So let’s jump right in with today’s guest. Welcome to this episode of the Exploring Washington State podcast. My guest today is Amy Cross. When you go to Amy’s website, it says that you probably found her because of her strawberries in a jar or her book. Well, I didn’t find you that way, Amy. I found you because our Instagram channel. Guess that’s the word I’m supposed to use. my daughter who runs our Instagram channel, put a survey out late in 2022. Who would you like to have us on as a guest to the on the podcast? Your name was number one on that list. I’d never heard of you. I did a little research. I reached out to your team. We we talked back and forth. We we dropped the ball. We picked it back up, and now you and I are sitting here. You’re in your kitchen. I’m in my office, and I’m talking to you. So since my my audience wants to hear about you, I’m gonna let you tell the audience You. Who are you, Amy?

Amy Cross [00:01:21]:

My name is Amy Cross. I’m in the, West Western Washington, the wet side of Washington area, and I’m born and raised a Washingtonian. And I have a blog and an Instagram that started last July, July 2021 called the Cross Legacy. which is our family motto. I never ever thought when I started this, the just a few days later, pictures of my fridge would make me go viral. and change lives all around the world. So I am also known as the strawberry lady. I get recognized when I’m out and about My strawberries in a jar hack has been shared well over 18,000,000 times tagged back to me and millions more times not tagged back to me for the correct instructions. But, people all over the world are starting to recognize across legacy and Amy Cross as being a produce expert and really being able to teach you how to save money on groceries.

Scott Cowan [00:02:20]:

Okay. So I gotta ask you. So you said you started this in July of 2021. Most people don’t just wake up and go, I’m gonna start a blog today and put something out. So what was the motivation for you? What was the What drove you to saying I’m going to share something with the world?

Amy Cross [00:02:39]:

So I have honestly, I’ve owned a house keeping company for 15 years, and it was closed during the pandemic. And, we had some life changes that happened, and we were stuck at home, like everybody else And I was having a really, really hard time. I had read a 136 books that year. We were in the middle of a kitchen remodel, like, all of my hobbies were taken away, like, all of the things. And I had this friend for years that kept, like, Amy, you have mad skills with produce. And I’m like, What are you talking about? Like, you know, I just didn’t get it. I just didn’t realize that so many families threw produce away because that’s just not how I’m wired. We use all of the produce that we buy. And so I started answering questions on Facebook groups, and particularly Cowan pages shall cooking group. And there were so many moms that were scared to go to the grocery store. They were scared to take their kids to the grocery store. They were scared of you know, the prices and the shelves being empty and those kind of things. And I I just know how to keep produce fresh longer. I like shopping once every 3 weeks. I have some medical issues that makes me not want to go to the grocery store so often. And, I just started answering questions. I just it started with blueberries. Somebody was like, oh, I can’t get blueberries to last more than 4 days. I’m like, what are you talking about? My blueberries 4 weeks old in the fridge right now. And they were like, no. They’re not. And I’m like, here. Here’s a picture. Like and so Cowan Paige, who I’ve been following for years. Like, she has millions of followers. She reached out to me and she’s like, Amy, you have something here. You need to start your own Instagram. So I started it, like, July 1st. I ended up taking a blog course that July 1st weekend while my husband was tearing our kitchen apart. On July 3rd, I put up strawberries in a jar. It was one of my very first post. It was just a picture of my fridge. Like, it wasn’t a big deal. And by October, it had went viral and has totally completely changed our lives.

Scott Cowan [00:04:44]:

So that picture of your fridge, I tongue and cheek, but I’m doubting you. The French cannot look like that. No. That that’s like that photograph. You’re in your kitchen. Can I challenge you to turn your camera and show me

Amy Cross [00:05:04]:

Always.

Scott Cowan [00:05:05]:

And I’ll I’m gonna vouch everyone. I’m gonna tell the truth. So she’s opening up the left side of her fridge. I and disgusted because it is you didn’t know I was doing

Amy Cross [00:05:16]:

this. So

Scott Cowan [00:05:17]:

—

Amy Cross [00:05:17]:

This one, Avocado. That’s a month old.

Scott Cowan [00:05:20]:

And that’s in just a canning jar.

Amy Cross [00:05:21]:

That’s in a jar. It’s half open. So it’s only been open for a couple days. I have another one that’s, a month old here. So if you keep them in, like, crisper drawer with a lemon, it’s their produce studies, and they stay fresh or longer. I’ve been in 9 newspapers around the world because of this.

Scott Cowan [00:05:38]:

So so okay. So I I gotta I’m trying to just since no one’s gonna see this, but me, so I’m gonna try to describe this. So the top shelf looks like

Amy Cross [00:05:44]:

There’s Pomegranates.

Scott Cowan [00:05:46]:

Pomegranates. okay. There’s pomegranates. There’s a half an avocado. I gotta say I look feel like I’m looking to have — —

Amy Cross [00:05:51]:

left from this fall that’s out there. There’s some cranberries from Thanksgiving. in a jar.

Scott Cowan [00:05:56]:

This looks like something I would see at Whole Foods, everybody. I mean, it’s just it does it’s organized. It’s neat. It’s organized. It’s We should all be ashamed of our refrigerators.

Amy Cross [00:06:07]:

Oh, here. I got a good one for you. Let me get this up. Can you put this down? Here. These carrots and celery, right from November 5th. You can see it’s even says it right here. Let me check. Right.

Scott Cowan [00:06:20]:

So these are in so everything appears to be in a a glass jar. And what you’re showing me with the carrots is a glass container with a plastic top that snaps on all four sides.

Amy Cross [00:06:29]:

Hyrites container. Right. Okay. So these are from November 5th. Listen.

Scott Cowan [00:06:36]:

It snapped. I don’t know the the audio is gonna translate, but, yeah, it there’s There’s it’s crisp. It was it wasn’t rubbery. It was crisp. So first off, I gotta tease you because that refrigerator just doesn’t look natural. but, it’s it’s awe inspiring. So before you did the block, Did your refrigerator look like that?

Amy Cross [00:06:58]:

Yeah. It’s looked like that for quite a while. — Wow.

Scott Cowan [00:07:02]:

—

Amy Cross [00:07:02]:

we have We had littles in our house and foster parents. And when they first came to live with us, they didn’t know Snacks came from the fridge. They knew Taco Bell, and they didn’t you know, it’s just this whole different mindset. And we’re an allergy family, and we’re, like, Cowan homesteaders, and we eat whole foods. You know? So — Right.

Scott Cowan [00:07:26]:

—

Amy Cross [00:07:27]:

a very different mindset for them when they were coming, and they didn’t know the names of the produce items. Like, when I’m like, oh, do you want strawberries or you want blueberries? You know? And we had a whole bunch that were underfoot at one time. So they

Scott Cowan [00:07:42]:

thought that Go Gurt, you know, they they knew strawberry because it was in a Go Gurt flavor, if you will, not independent. —

Amy Cross [00:07:50]:

would even have been a good thing, but it’s labeled chips and granola bars and, like, those kind of things, like, not things that actually came out of the fridge. So I started putting I’ve always washed things to make them safe,

Scott Cowan [00:08:01]:

but when I

Amy Cross [00:08:01]:

started putting them in glass pickle jars at the time, is when I truly realized that they were lasting so much longer, but I started doing that years ago so I could, like, here, do you want fees, they’re red. Do you want this red, you know, Berry? You know, like, and so that visual opening up the fridge and being able to entice them to eat a rainbow every day was so important. And then I realized that, you know, not only am I killing off the E. coli molds wars and all those kind of things when I’m washing it, now they’re lasting 3 weeks. So — Wow.

Scott Cowan [00:08:32]:

—

Amy Cross [00:08:32]:

I only go the grocery store once every 3 weeks, and we have 0 food waste at our house.

Scott Cowan [00:08:37]:

Right. So selfishly, because it’s my show and I’m selfish. the avocado things got me going. So what How ex you see, put it in the crisper drawer with a lemon. I’ve heard that before, but a half an avocado in a glass jar that wasn’t Brown seems unnatural. What’s going on there? Can you do you have, like, the science behind it that you can explain?

Amy Cross [00:09:02]:

So for avocados and bananas

Scott Cowan [00:09:05]:

—

Amy Cross [00:09:05]:

— for those 2 items, if you don’t believe in buying organic at all, for those 2 items, we’ll actually save you money. So for those 2 items by them, normally they come a ship in a cargo container, and they are totally green. You don’t have a green banana when it arrives. When they arrive in port, they’re sprayed with ethylene, which is a growth hormone, a ripening hormone.

Scott Cowan [00:09:31]:

Amy Cross [00:09:32]:

So then they get put on a truck and they magically show up at your store Cowan they’re perfect, you know, especially things that perfect banana that you bring home.

Scott Cowan [00:09:40]:

Right. All of

Amy Cross [00:09:41]:

a sudden, in 2 days, they’re black and horrible. because that ethylene process, they it doesn’t know how to slow down once it’s sprayed. It advises you to buy it, and it’s perfect, but it doesn’t know how slow down after it sprayed. These produce items naturally release ethylene and, you know, at a slower space, and that’s what you want you want for your produce items. so for the avocados, if you bring them home, I always you can’t see me doing this, but I always say try to get it If you’re pinching your finger and your thumb together, that softness that you feel right there

Scott Cowan [00:10:18]:

— Right. —

Amy Cross [00:10:18]:

that’s, like, the perfect, ripeness burn avocado. If you can just take an extra second at the store and try to find those perfect ripe ones

Scott Cowan [00:10:26]:

— Right. —

Amy Cross [00:10:27]:

Cowan I bring it home and watch and the vinegar wash to kill off any wool tors and put it in the crisper drawer with a lemon, the lemon, and the avocados are produce studies and they keep each other fresher longer. So then they will stay fresh for a month. Women’s will actually stay pressure for, like, 6 weeks. But, they’ll stay fresh for a month. And then as you go to cut them, I put them in a, pint size, a wide mouth pint size canning jar with a metal lid, a plastic lid, a metal lid, so it’s air tight. And it will stay fresh for another almost week. So cut in half. And if you keep a pit in the skin on it, it helps a little bit longer. And apple also stays fresh in the jar like that. the metal lid if it’s sliced so you can cut up half an apple, give it to some toddlers and not throw away the other half. So it stays fresh for a week.

Scott Cowan [00:11:22]:

Okay. That’s that’s amazing. Okay. So you started out by sharing some insights on on Facebook group. An influencer tells you, hey, you need to get something set up for yourself. You start something on Instagram, Your first post is this this what became has become iconic for you. That’s and that’s that’s kind of, you know, really when you think about that, that’s that in and of itself is kind of amazing that the very first anything is the the iconic thing. So strawberries and a jar. Why did you pick that?

Amy Cross [00:11:57]:

Why did I pick it for my Christmas? Yeah. honestly, my fridge was in the living room. We had no walls in the kitchen.

Scott Cowan [00:12:07]:

Amy Cross [00:12:07]:

thought my channel would be more about canning and preserving food and stuff, like, making it more shelf stable and those kind of things and didn’t realize that it was just the average family that needed help, not not that home steady niche that I thought I was going to be going into. But, I mean, I just was trying to figure out how to write a blog that 1st weekend. And, it’s just kind of funny that that’s what has ended up changing our lives and having me talk to so many people that the average family in the United States throws away 40% of the food that they buy and the World Economic Forum came out to say it was actually 61% globally. Yes. So the problem with our budgets isn’t that we’re, you know, spending too much at the grocery store necessarily, which we are, but it’s when we bring it home and throwing half of that away. Like, it’s just crazy to think that most families are throwing away half the food that they buy.

Scott Cowan [00:13:02]:

Yeah. That’s it’s really disheartening when you when you say it like that. So the strawberries, I’m I’m gonna just keep peeling back the layers of the strawberry here. So the first post, I haven’t looked at it. What did you just when you shared that very first post, walk me through it. What exactly was that first post?

Amy Cross [00:13:24]:

It’s the instructions how to do it properly to make strawberries last for 3 weeks. So it’s super important when you’re doing it. You set a timer for 2 minutes when you’re soaking the strawberries in the vinegar waters. So other influencers that have tried to copy me since then, we’ll say put them in the sink for half an hour or whatever. It will destroy the berries. So, strawberries, you know, you set a timer for 2 minutes. You don’t walk away. You don’t go swap the laundry. You stay there, and then, you know, you drain the momentum. But we have all the instructions. We have videos on all of the different platforms for strawberries, raspberries. Raspberries have their own little instructions, but they will last again, like 2 to 3 weeks.

Scott Cowan [00:14:09]:

So if I go to Costco and I buy a tray of raspberries from, oh, why can’t I think of the one company that they have raspberries? What?

Amy Cross [00:14:17]:

Just go.

Scott Cowan [00:14:18]:

Yeah. Then the raspberries are year round. So they’re they’re being shipped in from the the southern hemisphere at this time of year. We’re obviously not growing raspberries in Washington State in at the time we’re recording this January. Are those a Raspberry or is produce from the southern hemisphere being treated with different preservatives or inhibitors or enhancers than stuff that’s grown locally.

Amy Cross [00:14:44]:

I only buy organic strawberries

Scott Cowan [00:14:46]:

— Okay. —

Amy Cross [00:14:47]:

at Costco. They’re on the or berries.

Scott Cowan [00:14:50]:

Right.

Amy Cross [00:14:50]:

But they’re on the top of the dirty 5th teen always. Mhmm. k. So, yes, other countries have different growing.

Scott Cowan [00:14:59]:

Right.

Amy Cross [00:15:00]:

procedures, but it doesn’t mean that the United States is the best either.

Scott Cowan [00:15:04]:

No. No. No. I’m I’m I was just wondering, like, for for, let’s say grapes are probably coming in from Chile right now. Right? And they’re and they’re and so they’re being shipped a long ways to get to our local Washington state in certain name of brand here where we don’t have a favorite grocery chain. So a lot to say Costco. So go I walk into Costco. I go into the pro Cowan of a Costco, and there’s a an a two pound tub of of grapes. In your opinion, are those any Would your cleaning procedures change if you picked up grapes at Costco in January or if you bought grapes at a local farmers market in Yakima during season.

Amy Cross [00:15:49]:

No. I still wash them. either way. because they still come up from a farm. I grew up on a farm. I know things that happen on farms. Right. But it’s still bugs and dirt. It doesn’t matter. It’s not necessarily like the pesticides. There’s still bugs and dirt. You’re still carrying things. There’s the mold spores, like, especially, like, people don’t wash oranges. They don’t think about it to wash oranges

Scott Cowan [00:16:14]:

— Mhmm. —

Amy Cross [00:16:15]:

because they’re taking the peels off

Scott Cowan [00:16:16]:

of them.

Amy Cross [00:16:17]:

Well, at the store or when it’s being transported, if there’s a moldy one, they just throw it away, but those mold spores are on all the other oranges. And if you don’t wash them when you bring them home, then you already are putting those mold spores in your refrigerator and your or your produce bowl or wherever you’re putting them. But, you know, oranges will last for months and months. Well, grapes the last 40 days, but, you know, these items will last for months if you’re taking care of them. Now I totally agree that locally homegrown, you know, like, things. I don’t buy tomatoes in the wintertime. I don’t care where they were grown. Like, don’t buy them in the wintertime. You know, like, fresh things taste better when they’re fresh. Absolutely. Those kind of things. But

Scott Cowan [00:16:58]:

— But I think many of us have gotten spoiled by I mean, I’m old enough to remember when Mandarin oranges are Sumatras. I think that’s a is that the correct anyway, those were they those were brought into the into why into the US. Well, for me, growing up in Washington State, Washington State, at the holiday Yeah. It’s a Christmas tree. Now they’re now they’re you’re out. Oh.

Amy Cross [00:17:21]:

Same apples. Like, the apples that you’re buying, like, you’re, you know, the one you used to watch is that you’re in the apple the apple. Yeah. When you go to buy apples at the store, you don’t think about most those apples are a year old. They’ve been in cold storage all year.

Scott Cowan [00:17:36]:

Right. Yeah. No. And that’s, you know, when you drive around my area, you see those warehouses are massive. It’s pretty it’s pretty eye opening when you drive around the the Wenatchee Valley and you see these giant concrete buildings and you’re like, those are full of fruit.

Amy Cross [00:17:51]:

Exactly. You know? And people don’t have that concept anymore that, like, the oranges are harvested in December. Homegranates, you saw were in my refrigerator. Those are harvest in December, those are the fruits that we’re concentrating on right now.

Scott Cowan [00:18:04]:

Mhmm.

Amy Cross [00:18:05]:

And, you know, we can get these things year round. But people don’t really think about where it came from, how long it’s been in cold storage. And then they’re like, oh, well, once I bring it home, the nutritional value decreases or whatever, because that’s what they’ve been brainwashed to think. Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:18:20]:

It’s

Amy Cross [00:18:21]:

the same apple either in my fridge or somebody else’s warehouse that has been in cold storage.

Scott Cowan [00:18:28]:

Right. It’s not it’s just you didn’t go pick it off the tree.

Amy Cross [00:18:30]:

It’s — Exactly.

Scott Cowan [00:18:31]:

It’s, yeah, it’s a year older 6 months or whatever. Okay. So gonna go back to the strawberries in a jar because there’s one aspect of it that I’m, once again, I’m not the man about the kitchen, perplexed by. So you’re suggesting washing the strawberries for 2 minutes, not leaving them. You want you wanna be around the around the sink, if you will. but you’re also saying you’re you’re saying vinegar water. And so my knee jerk reaction to this is doesn’t the vinegar soak into the berry and provide, an odd aftertaste?

Amy Cross [00:19:04]:

No. I’d like dissipate. So only 2 minutes is a quarter cup to a large bowl of water. And, yeah, just 2 minutes. Really? It dissipates in the water. It goes away. It doesn’t smell like vinegar later. Like,

Scott Cowan [00:19:19]:

I believe you. I I mean, I’m you’re looking at me and I’m kinda looking at you skeptically. I believe you, but at the same time, I’m perplexed

Amy Cross [00:19:26]:

Let me talk about the vinegar real quick, though, because

Scott Cowan [00:19:28]:

there’s a

Amy Cross [00:19:29]:

couple different kinds. The in the United States, it’s 5% distilled white vinegar that you want. There’s we have

Scott Cowan [00:19:37]:

5% 7%,

Amy Cross [00:19:39]:

which is called cleaning vinegar. That cleaning vinegar is for cleaning your showers and things that used to own a housekeeping company that is not safe for produce. So you want the 5% that find in, like, the pickle aisle of the store and not in the laundry detergent aisle of the store.

Scott Cowan [00:19:57]:

So, like, the Hines is kind of the one brand that I see.

Amy Cross [00:20:01]:

And Hines actually has produce on the label, which, you know, helps helps. But, in the in Canada, because you might have Canadian followers too. In Canada, all of their vinegar is safe, and it’s the 5%. And it’s just labeled white vinegar. So I get that a lot because we’re all around the world. Like, oh, mine says this. And if you’re in Australia, it’s four and a half percent. So things that I’ve learned over the last year, it’s a worldwide following that And then I get people come back sometimes too asking if, apple cider vinegar is okay, and it is okay if that’s all you have. in the house. She can use that, but it is a little bit more expensive. So the next time you go to the store, just pick up 5¢ to still buy vinegar.

Scott Cowan [00:20:45]:

Okay. Alright. I’m gonna I’m gonna try this, actually. I’m gonna I still have this thing, but it’s funny because, I mean, Leach water doesn’t necessarily leave a bleaching taste on things, you know, so I gotta I gotta I trust you. So I’d like to ask you the question Well, okay. I’ll ask you this question. When you’re shopping for the family, Do you shop at 1 of the major supermarkets?

Amy Cross [00:21:14]:

Yeah. well, unless it’s the summertime. Okay. So

Scott Cowan [00:21:18]:

so the next time you go grocery shopping?

Amy Cross [00:21:21]:

I normally get most of my berries and grapes. from Costco.

Scott Cowan [00:21:27]:

Cowan.

Amy Cross [00:21:27]:

And then, like, pomegranate currencies right now, and those are always from Costco. and then I shop a lot at Fred Myers, which is Kroger, other places of the country. It’s kind of my other go to place

Scott Cowan [00:21:38]:

— Okay. —

Amy Cross [00:21:39]:

all year long. And then when the farmer’s market’s open back up, then I — Then

Scott Cowan [00:21:42]:

you’re starting a farmer’s market. It’s great. So I’m gonna arbitrarily paint a scenario. It’s Wednesday afternoon. You’re going grocery shopping. Okay? You’ve gone to Costco and you’ve gone to to Fred Meyer. You got the car with the bags of groceries that you’re bringing home. I know that when I go shopping, My wife’s gonna listen to this and laugh again. She’ll go, you never go shopping. but I I’m gonna say that, you know, when I would go grocery shopping, The last thing I wanted to do was anything with all the food I just bought. I’d shove it in the fridge or the freezer cans, whatever, and just walk away. So one thing about you, you’re you’re I this washing and preservation stuff. Like I said, you just come in the house with the bags and for sake of conversation, it’s 3 pm. How long does it take you to on average, to prep the the fruits and vegetables that you purchased on an average shopping trip?

Amy Cross [00:22:43]:

So, I only go grocery shopping once every 3 weeks. I have a grocery service since December 5th. So — Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:22:50]:

—

Amy Cross [00:22:51]:

when you think about, like, most people go to the grocery store every day or every 2 days or every 3 days. So, over the course of the month, think about how much time I’m saving for

Scott Cowan [00:23:01]:

1. Right.

Amy Cross [00:23:01]:

And then — Very fair.

Scott Cowan [00:23:02]:

—

Amy Cross [00:23:03]:

I have reflective sympathetic dystrophy, which, is similar to somebody that has fibromyalgia. It’s not the same thing, but I fatigued and tired and those kind of things. So coming home from the grocery store, I can be worn out. Like, you know, it can seem daunting. But, literally, to buy a whole month’s worth of groceries and, you know, clean it all because it fills up my whole countertop It probably takes around 45 minutes. You know? Uh-huh. Lately, it seems like it takes a little bit longer because we’re taking pictures. I mean

Scott Cowan [00:23:33]:

— Sure. Sure. That can make you content.

Amy Cross [00:23:35]:

Right. but then it dries for, like, 3 hours on my counter. And so then I can go, you know, rest and do what I need to do. And then it comes when I come back to put it in the cluster, My husband’s always like, oh, I’ll help you. And I’m like, no. That’s my favorite part. But to put it into the refrigerator, it only takes about 15 minutes. So the whole process for a month’s worth of grocery shopping takes about an hour.

Scott Cowan [00:24:01]:

That’s a very reasonable trade off that That doesn’t sound daunting, especially I I hadn’t given any consideration to the drying time. So I could come home. I could wash everything, lay it out, and then fall down on the couch for a while. And then — Exactly. Okay. I love that. Okay. Okay.

Amy Cross [00:24:19]:

And then, like, a lot, like, well, I have kids and they’re gonna be eating it. Yes. That’s great. like, plan ahead for for grocery washing day, you know, produce washing day that your kids are going to be eating more and more involved that day. That’s a great thing. Like, don’t be mad at them. That’s a great thing. Thinking that they’re excited about that cherry tomato that they might never eat again or, you know, like, pick something red, pick something green, you know, and be excited about that, have them involved in it. You know?

Scott Cowan [00:24:49]:

I’m laughing because, you know, it’s it it with many kids. It, you know, it’s hard to get them to eat vegetables for for it’s easier, I think. But but no. So you’re mad at Little Timmy because he he grabbed a cherry tomato gallery, but, like, really? No. It should be happy.

Amy Cross [00:25:03]:

Exactly. Exactly. So you just have to change your mindset about that. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:25:07]:

Yeah. Okay. So That, see, that’s that’s interesting because when I think of the avatar of a of a Washington State home. I think of a Tired, stressed out, overworked, what, but just not Life is day to day life’s challenging, and it’s challenging for all of us for various reasons. But I I think as somebody who’s like, I’m so tired. And so they go They go when they go grocery shopping, they they go down the frozen food aisle. They grab stuff and they throw in the freezer and they microwave it and they eat. And so maybe just some people that sounds extremely daunting. But really when you think about the time savings that this tired overworked stressed out person that I’m imagining in my head would have over a month. Yes. You have one day that’s probably a whole lot worse than the other 29, 30 days of the month. Not a whole lot worse, but but more involved. And then the rest of the month or at least for 3 weeks in your case, you go to the refrigerator. There’s there’s choices the fact that you’re putting everything in glass and and I’m gonna find that photograph of your of your refrigerator and put it in the show notes. So I’m just gonna steal it without permission, and I’m gonna show up. But the the bugs when you see a refrigerator, it’s it’s it’s it really does look like something that you would see in a IKEA catalog or home whole foods. everything’s clearly laid out, and it’s just there’s no decision fatigue. There’s no digging around on the crisper to see what I’ve got. Oh, limp celery. Mhmm. yeah, rotted tomato. It’s right there. It’s accessible. — thus saving you a ton of mental fatigue and energy. And and those things, I think we all benefit from that.

Amy Cross [00:27:06]:

I could ask all the time, well, where are your leftovers? Will we eat our leftovers for

Scott Cowan [00:27:11]:

Amy Cross [00:27:11]:

Like, when I’m planning meals, I’m planning 2 days, like, We’re we’re eating our leftovers. We’re rotating food out. We’re not throwing away a whole bunch of stuff that we were wishful thinking. It was going to be in the refrigerator.

Scott Cowan [00:27:24]:

for

Amy Cross [00:27:25]:

however amounts of time, but, you know, when I buy lettuce, it’s going to last for a month. It’s going to stay fresh for a month. You know, when I buy, you know, any kind of produce. I can keep it fresh for weeks, but, I mean, one of the things before I I learned, which is just funny. Okay. Hold on. with the avocados, I started putting them in the drawer together because I thought they looked pretty. Like, you know, some things I just like to be visually filling in that kind of stuff. I thought they looked pretty in the drawer together. It didn’t look so pretty in the other drawer. I don’t know. Anyways, I didn’t realize until after I did that, that like, oh, they’re lasting longer, you know, kind of thing. I didn’t realize that I found this magic trick. I just thought they looked pretty in the same direction, but And avocado is something I used to go to the store three times a week for.

Scott Cowan [00:28:12]:

Right.

Amy Cross [00:28:12]:

And, you know, how often do you go into the store for one item and you walk out pushing a cart bull, like, wondering what in that just happened? And that cart used to be fifty bucks. But now how often does somebody go into the grocery store and spend less than a

Scott Cowan [00:28:27]:

$100. I don’t think you’re allowed to. I think it’s a law that you have to spend a $100 to enter enter into a grocery chain. I’m just —

Amy Cross [00:28:34]:

Our grocery budget is a $135 per person. And right now in our household, we only have two people. We are only spending just around $200 a month on groceries, and we’re an organic Whole Foods family.

Scott Cowan [00:28:51]:

Woah. Walk me through the day we’re recording this on a Thursday. You sound extremely organized. Do you know what your meals are gonna be on Friday?

Amy Cross [00:29:03]:

Tomorrow, Friday? Yes. I honestly know.

Scott Cowan [00:29:06]:

Oh, okay. Well, walk me through a realistic in your home, what you’re gonna eat on Friday.

Amy Cross [00:29:14]:

Friday tomorrow. I have no idea what I’m gonna eat tomorrow. I hope you want me to be really honest, but I could make pizza. I have mozzarella. I have step to make pizza dough. I have spaghetti sauce. I have every kind of topping that I would wanna make if I wanted to make a Friday night pizza. That’s really easy. I have chicken. I could pull out of the freezer, and I Cowan make fajitas. Oh, yeah. I just did my inventory in the freezer yesterday. And I have the enchilada sauce, peppers, and onions, and Chipotle sauce, that I can make out of the freezer, like, super easy, but I back cook meal, so I only have to cook two to three times a week. So I have two shelves of meals in my freezer that I could pull out. today and have to frost it for tomorrow because, again, I have a health issue that I don’t always have good days

Scott Cowan [00:30:09]:

— Mhmm. —

Amy Cross [00:30:10]:

day after day. Right? And so I try to 1 or 2 days a week. I make something that’s bigger that I can then instead of putting in my refrigerator to dye, I put into glass containers and put them in the free freezer and then go pull them out for different, for different days. But We buy our meat once a year, so we have a free cigars for our meat. So — Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:30:34]:

—

Amy Cross [00:30:34]:

our meat is We we have other meat we need. I just need to put all the free butter.

Scott Cowan [00:30:39]:

So you’ve got it. Okay. So you okay. Excellent. That’s that’s awesome. Have you always been this organized? As a kid, were you were you that organized kid in school?

Amy Cross [00:30:51]:

I’m all or nothing. Let let’s just be honest with that. I am all or nothing. I’ll write nothing. you know, like, you are either super good on something or like, I’m okay with it. I’m diabetic. So, like, I’m either super good on my

Scott Cowan [00:31:10]:

— Okay. —

Amy Cross [00:31:11]:

doctors are like, I don’t care for the rest of the day. It’s my naturopath of hearing this. She’s gonna be freaking out on me. But — Oh, well,

Scott Cowan [00:31:19]:

it’s, you know, what? I mean, in all fairness, you shouldn’t do that. Let’s just say that, but I have a feeling that all of us that have we have our days

Amy Cross [00:31:29]:

where we just kind of mail it in. It’s January. Who hasn’t made a New Year resolution?

Scott Cowan [00:31:33]:

Absolutely.

Amy Cross [00:31:34]:

They’re filming this on 5th, you know, like, it’s probably already, like, I don’t need to do that today.

Scott Cowan [00:31:40]:

Yeah. I don’t want to. Why did you say I wanted to do that a week ago? Yeah. Okay.

Amy Cross [00:31:44]:

being said that, I don’t like to meal plan, like,

Scott Cowan [00:31:47]:

how

Amy Cross [00:31:48]:

they go, which people, like, normally like, oh, you have to meal plan, and you have to know exactly what you’re going to have. I don’t know if I want pizza tomorrow. I don’t know if I want chicken tomorrow. I don’t know what I wanna wear next Tuesday, but I have all of the ingredients in my house so that I can make whatever I want.

Scott Cowan [00:32:03]:

Okay. Okay. Fair enough. —

Amy Cross [00:32:05]:

that I teach other families how to do is to have this ingredients so you’re not running to the store. Right. That you know how to stock a pantry. You know how to stock your freezer. You know how to have those ingredients in your house that You know, if next Tuesday, something sounds good to you or your kids want something or your husband wants something, like, you know, you can just make it.

Scott Cowan [00:32:26]:

Okay. The strawberries in a jar. Keep going back to the strawberries in a jar because that’s where it all began. Strawberries in a jar. You post it. In July, in October, it went viral. It’s taken off. What’s changed in your world since then? And were you and before you answer that, the the the the additional questions to that I’ll get lumped in there was were you prepared for it? And Is it what you thought it would be?

Amy Cross [00:33:05]:

We still don’t know what this is.

Scott Cowan [00:33:07]:

Okay.

Amy Cross [00:33:07]:

Let’s just start with that. I started this by November last year on our grandma’s 93rd birthday. I started I started the cross legacy like LLC in Washington State And they listed me as a social media influencer and a media company at the time. And then I was talking about hiring employees. This was last November. And they didn’t the Washington State had never had a social media influence or higher employees. So they had to have, like, LNI meetings about me because we didn’t know what this was. I still don’t know what this is some days, but in January, January 1st, so we just had our year anniversary we hired a team. And the team started with just some other moms that needed some help making grocery money, you know, and having a little bit more income in their house. It wasn’t where I was like, oh, I need to hire, you know, the special expert kind of thing. Like, it was just my friends. It was just moms that needed, you know, some extra work that they could do during nap time, and I was overwhelmed because I literally, every single day, still, every single day, I spend at least 4 hours answering questions on Instagram. like, people that are asking me questions all over the world. I have a team at now so they can edit things and, you know, all those other things so I can still connect with people all over the world. That’s my calling is to be able to truly I truly personally answer every single question that comes through Instagram. like, every single one. And then we have YouTube and Facebook and, you know, TikTok and all the other different things. But Instagram is like my baby, and I spent 4 hours a day on it every single day. and, and and still cooked dinner and still, you know — And

Scott Cowan [00:34:57]:

and still and you and you have as you’ve mentioned, there are days when you’re not feeling your best and you’re Oh,

Amy Cross [00:35:03]:

I picked it up on the couch. It’s just kinda nice too. Right. But

Scott Cowan [00:35:06]:

still, it’s still. So Think about this. Going back to July of and you send you you post this you know, how crazy would it have sounded that a year and a half later you’ve given yourself a a a full time job answering, basically, questions from around the world.

Amy Cross [00:35:30]:

yeah, full time job, a TEDx speaker, like

Scott Cowan [00:35:33]:

—

Amy Cross [00:35:33]:

Yeah. You know, we wrote two books now and a course like, when you look back up all that’s happened this last year, it’s it’s amazing and to know that we are working on something not official yet, but we are working on something that’s going to be huge in impacting our local area

Scott Cowan [00:35:50]:

— Mhmm. —

Amy Cross [00:35:51]:

with our local food bank, which is going to be a huge thing to help educate families that need it the most. And, and I just I feel so blessed every single day that the skills that just really came naturally to me because we couldn’t waste money on groceries. And I grew up on a farm, and I’ve just kinda honed it over the years to make it perfect, you know, to figure out that perfect recipe to make, you know, berries last longer and stuff. But you know, that I’m being used in this way, and I can share this this calling on my heart with so many people. It’s just literally around the world.

Scott Cowan [00:36:29]:

I gotta ask you. You’re getting all these questions. You’ve got to get a handful of questions more often. Like, there’s gotta be a question or 2 that rises to the top, it’s always being asked. Would you agree with that?

Amy Cross [00:36:45]:

Yeah. Yeah. Over the last year, I’ve I’ve, taken videos and I’ve shown every single time I went she’s shopping. I’ve shown every single time, like, 2 weeks later what my fridge looks like. I’m really good about I mean, we have things in our fridge that’s, like, don’t eat these. I need these to show for a video. You know, like, normally, those carrots are November 5th. We would just have even by now. But — Right.

Scott Cowan [00:37:11]:

Right. — it’s

Amy Cross [00:37:12]:

pretty impressive to be able to snap them. You know?

Scott Cowan [00:37:14]:

Yeah. It is. It is.

Amy Cross [00:37:15]:

But, you know, so I get the question, like, why do you buy so much at one time or, you know, like, they think they think that it’s just for show, but if you really go back and you look at my Instagram for the last year and a half, you will see all of the different live videos, or there’s, like, 235 videos on YouTube. of every single time. I went grocery shopping every single time 2 weeks later of my fridge to really prove to you. Like, I really don’t go to the grocery store.

Scott Cowan [00:37:47]:

I really, you know, you didn’t know I was gonna ask you to show the fridge. So we can just say that, you know, on January 5th, you you You Cowan the fridge up un unannounced. And, at that moment in time, it’s there’s a beautiful snapshot of organization. So this may be a hard question to answer, but what do you I’ll I’ll phrase it this way. What do you hope? the cross legacy will look like 12 24 months from now. What’s your ambition?

Amy Cross [00:38:23]:

I I hope that It would 12 24 months. Okay. honestly, we have we have self fund it a lot of the team’s salary, and I’m not gonna lie about it. We really have. We’ve we’ve taken money out of our home equity because we believe in this so much and we are just on the cusp of, like, this really becoming something that could change, not only our lives, but the whole team’s lives. K. So I absolutely believe that we are still going to be going strong in 2 years. We are still going to be having a team and growing and all of this kind of things. And the cross legacy is not only, you know, sustaining itself. but it is it is impacting other lives. So, you know, as a small business center, I can tell you that weight of the stress is on my shoulders. And, you know, not only for our family, but for all the families that are involved in this. And so you know, that is a big thing, that I have a book that’s the best seller on Amazon that is only available in Kindle and PDF. Like, I want to see that on bookshelves so bad. Like, it’s

Scott Cowan [00:39:47]:

Amy Cross [00:39:47]:

fun selling book. We need a publisher. We need it to get it on shelfs. And, you know, I speak at local groups all the time. Like, you know, I have around 4 speaking appearances a month where I’m talking to groups mostly of moms, and just to be able to travel around the country, around the world, and be able to share this message more, you know, to other people. It I just I have this vision that this is just going to happen.

Scott Cowan [00:40:16]:

when you’re doing these engagements, are you doing much traveling outside of our region? Are you are you just

Amy Cross [00:40:23]:

Yeah. It’s mostly been in Washington so far.

Scott Cowan [00:40:25]:

So far in Washington.

Amy Cross [00:40:26]:

A couple of things that are lining up in Texas that we’re trying to make them all line up together.

Scott Cowan [00:40:31]:

Right.

Amy Cross [00:40:32]:

so I can go there for, like, 2 weeks and do, like, these 6 events that we’re working on down there. But, yeah, between between Western Washington, Eastern Washington. It’s mostly in Washington

Scott Cowan [00:40:44]:

right now. The the nice thing if you go to Texas for a couple weeks, your fridge will still look great when you come back.

Amy Cross [00:40:48]:

I know. see. We went away. We were in Eastern Washington for, Christmas, and we were gone for 2 weeks and came back in our So

Scott Cowan [00:40:55]:

There you go. That’s that’s

Amy Cross [00:40:57]:

went to the grocery store.

Scott Cowan [00:40:58]:

That’s staggering. So you wrote a book. What? Let’s talk about the book. Was it your idea to write a book? Did somebody did somebody once again did they reach out and say, you need to write a book? How What was the motivation to start that process?

Amy Cross [00:41:15]:

I had so many followers. We have a well, probably at the time of this airs, we’ll have a 107 1000 followers on Instagram. Right. 107,000 followers. It’s just crazy. Like, that’s more than, like, our 3 local towns together. You know what I mean? It’s just crazy, but we are. Yeah. So the book is called I bought it Now what?

Scott Cowan [00:41:38]:

I love that title.

Amy Cross [00:41:39]:

You buy it from the grocery store and now it’s so the very first book is the top 25 produce items I was getting asked about all of the time. And each produce item has, like, a written description. It has, like, a picture with a recipe card. And then at the back of the book, there’s also a graph. Like, I store this one in water, and this one in this kind of container, and this one with a paper towel, and it has, like, this nice little graph.

Scott Cowan [00:42:05]:

Okay.

Amy Cross [00:42:05]:

And then the second book that came out was the summer edition of that. So the it’s so they both called. I bought it now. What? The goal is to have a complete addition of that, I have 25 more items that I’ve been holding back on. But So there’s 50 produce items that are all broken out exactly how I store them, how long they’ll last, and those kind of those kind of things. So it’s available if you’re international, It’s available on Kendall through Amazon. and you just look at, you know, Amy Cross or I bought it now what, and they will both show up but it’s available for printable in a pdf on the cross legacy.com. Okay. So — That’s

Scott Cowan [00:42:48]:

that’s wonderful. So and you have a course?

Amy Cross [00:42:51]:

Yes. We have a grocery course. It’s called the grocery solution

Scott Cowan [00:42:55]:

where

Amy Cross [00:42:55]:

I teach families how to go to the grocery store less and have food security in their homes, which is so important. Like, so many people truly don’t know how to cook anymore.

Scott Cowan [00:43:07]:

That’s that’s very true. Alright. Growing up when you were a little kid, What’d you wanna be?

Amy Cross [00:43:19]:

well, I grew up on a large farm. So, it’s kinda in my blood, farming, and that kind of stuff that I wanted to be a teacher. And so I have a preschool teaching degree.

Scott Cowan [00:43:30]:

Cowan.

Amy Cross [00:43:30]:

And I was a teacher years ago, and then I moved into other things as things progressed. And then I became a foster mom and all of those different I still feel like I use my teaching degree all the time.

Scott Cowan [00:43:45]:

Well, you’re you’re teaching. You are you are teaching. your your platform now is just online and global versus a room in a school in a neighborhood. Now and not that that’s back. I’m just but you have a global, a global classroom now that you’re you’re impacting.

Amy Cross [00:44:02]:

Kind of fun, though, when I was young, like, in 7th grade, I met my husband and I had decided at the that I was going to marry him too, and we’ve been married for 25 years. So — Did

Scott Cowan [00:44:13]:

he but when when you were 7, did he know this? Did you did you share this with him?

Amy Cross [00:44:18]:

I kinda, but he wasn’t interested in me until senior year.

Scott Cowan [00:44:21]:

Until senior year. Okay. and you went to college? Yes. Yeah. where’d you go to school at?

Amy Cross [00:44:27]:

So I went to Green River, and then we moved to WSU. So he finished a WSU.

Scott Cowan [00:44:33]:

Okay. Go huskies. I went to central. I can pick on either school because I can’t I can’t they wouldn’t let me in either school. I I went to Central. I Cowan so I can I if you said you went to the Dub, I’d say, go, Hooggers. I mean, let’s let’s be honest about that. So teacher, other career, uh-uh, a cleaning company, and now a social media influencer. When we talked yesterday, one of the things that you shared with me that was so To me, I found fascinating. And I told you about it not repeatedly, but so is the idea that you brought on a team and you referenced this even with the state of Washington not knowing what to do with the social media that’s gonna have employees. But you brought on a team quickly. And as you described it to me yesterday, you the team was was mom’s stay at home moms needed extra grocery money and flexible schedules. So many of the influencers that I know, higher staff, from different parts of the world. And that’s and that’s that’s fine. No no no real opinion there. So they hire somebody, say, from the Philippines or from from Germany, it doesn’t matter. Is your team all local?

Amy Cross [00:46:05]:

We are mostly local. we are all in the United States.

Scott Cowan [00:46:08]:

We have

Amy Cross [00:46:09]:

that that’s on the East Coast.

Scott Cowan [00:46:11]:

Okay. So you’re US based team. So you’re — Absolutely. — your the cross legacy is helping Other families in the United States with some some economic cash. and they’re also learning all your stuff so that hopefully they’re implementing at home. I’d like to see your I’d like to see your team’s fridges, by the way. I think that’s something we should do is have your team get on the call and show their fridges. I think they’ll. No. — We

Amy Cross [00:46:38]:

just have one of them, meet with the local newspaper to say how much this has changed her life.

Scott Cowan [00:46:44]:

So — That’s awesome. That’s

Amy Cross [00:46:46]:

that’s awesome.

Scott Cowan [00:46:46]:

—

Amy Cross [00:46:46]:

Cowan use Tribune, article from December 12th.

Scott Cowan [00:46:50]:

Okay. That’s I’ll try to find that and put a link to it in the show notes. that’s that’s cool. So your team member, you was on was in the paper. What did they say? I haven’t read the article. So what what what did they say? What was the chain? How how did they phrase the change?

Amy Cross [00:47:09]:

Well, her son runs around saying he’s 3. runs around saying, strawberry’s in a jog on change my life. and, he doesn’t even know what that means. But he just knows that he has heard parents say that that the cross legacy and strawberries in a jar was going to change his life. And for us, when when we were talking about it and how it’s changing his life isn’t about the grocery money or, you know, having dinner, but the fact that she got to come home and he isn’t in daycare. She

Scott Cowan [00:47:43]:

— Right. —

Amy Cross [00:47:43]:

gets to be a mom. She got to have that, you know, summer with him this summer. She got to spend the holidays with him, you know, and make the magical memories. Like, you know, we are truly transforming families from the bottom up you know, and and, we have one other staff member that has health issues that She wouldn’t be able to leave the house at all. She can’t be around other people, and this is giving her community is giving her purpose is and she’s amazing. Like

Scott Cowan [00:48:18]:

So if if I may ask a very pointed question about that particular staffer, what is that person’s role? What are the what are the what are the the duties?

Amy Cross [00:48:26]:

It’s our back end on our our website. Okay. all the technical stuff that I don’t like to do. Right. She is on there. and the cross legacy had bought her a VR headset for Christmas as, like, a giving thing. So she could go explore other parts of the world or feel like connected with different things. Like, she could go, hi. and explore the mountains or go scuba diving with the CR set.

Scott Cowan [00:48:54]:

— That’s awesome. —

Amy Cross [00:48:55]:

but that’s, like, part of our giving, philosophy of doing this.

Scott Cowan [00:49:01]:

That’s a very thoughtful. I mean, that’s that’s a very, a very thoughtful, and generous, gift to give to somebody that doesn’t get to go and explore themselves. You know, they get now they get to through your generosity and through technology, they get to, they get to see more things. wow, So the team, the course, the books, you’ve got some merch on your website. I mean, that’s that’s all pretty typical. When you’re not doing this, what do you like to do for fun? Let’s talk about things in Washington state. What do you like to do? What’s what’s fun for you?

Amy Cross [00:49:45]:

I love to garden when the weather is nice. So I garden, we have chickens. I preserve food by canning it like my grandma did. So, you know, that is a hobby for me. That is something that is fun for me. We like to go on walks and explore things. We like to go, you know, Eastern Washington to the coast or get away for the weekend, you know, this kind of thing. Where’s a

Scott Cowan [00:50:09]:

great where where’s a great place in Eastern Washington? You guys like you’re not going back to Pulmon all the time, are you?

Amy Cross [00:50:15]:

We were, but in in the next couple of months. We’re going to Spokane a lot because I have a whole bunch of speaking events over there. But, for Christmas, we were just in Clem and Roslyn and, got to spend time in a cabin over there on the snow and go snowmobiling

Scott Cowan [00:50:31]:

and

Amy Cross [00:50:31]:

just, you know, just enjoy some quiet family time together. which was really amazing. So, and then we spent new years at the space needle. So you just never know what you’re gonna find.

Scott Cowan [00:50:42]:

So that’s so you’re getting out and you’re exploring Washington state. Plugged for the show. As as I told you, I am a huge, huge fan of coffee. And so I ask everybody this. First off, do you drink coffee?

Amy Cross [00:50:59]:

I do drink coffee.

Scott Cowan [00:51:00]:

Alright. If you and I were to go to a local coffee shop, two questions. You get to pick the shop. Where would we go for a cup of coffee together?

Amy Cross [00:51:09]:

We would go to Anchor House and Buckley.

Scott Cowan [00:51:12]:

Anchor House and Buckley? Okay. And what would you order?

Amy Cross [00:51:16]:

What would I order? Well, I would order a caramel latte and then have to check my blood sugar. because I try not to order caramel latte too often,

Scott Cowan [00:51:26]:

but — Okay. So Carmel is Carmel latte the go to coffee beverage for you?

Amy Cross [00:51:30]:

Yeah. yeah, that’s my that is my favorite drink that Anchor House is a business with a mission, and I love it that they are supporting other other things with, with that coffee house. So I had to support them as much as I can.

Scott Cowan [00:51:47]:

Awesome. Alright. I’ve never been to that. I not that I’ve been to every coffee shop in Washington. It certainly seems like it at times, but, is that maybe a aspirational goal for me? I my coffee drink of choice is I like black coffee. I I’ll drink. I’ll drink Clotese. They’re fine. I’ll drink, you know, I’ll espresso or black coffee. And so I judge a coffee shop. not on their, you know, their latte art. It’s impressive, but I don’t care. I I want great, brewed, pour over French press type coffee. So not every coffee shop does that.

Amy Cross [00:52:25]:

But you would love Anchorhaus because they know where every single being came from, and they — Yeah. — hurt their roasters and — Yeah. See, there’s — and all that.

Scott Cowan [00:52:33]:

Right. They’re in that that whole that whole That whole supply chain. Mhmm. In my opinion, needs more people doing that type of thing. Alright. So we went and had coffee. Now now I’m gonna I’m gonna offer to buy you lunch because you’re such a nice person. Where are we gonna go for lunch?

Amy Cross [00:52:53]:

So I would take you down the hill in Fortin. So it’s just still staying on Fortin. And, we would go to Farm 12 in P. L. Up, which, again, Farm 12 in P. L. Up is a restaurant that is supporting a charity. and that charity is step by step, which supports local moms, which is really amazing. They They help moms that are at risk trying to help keep their families together, and they do a lot of great things. Someday in my future, I hope the cross legacy has a same kind of situation as that where we can have a restaurant and a venue and a farm. that all support, other process. So

Scott Cowan [00:53:36]:

— So I’ve never heard of Farm Twelve. Whereabouts in Puyallup is that located?

Amy Cross [00:53:42]:

It’s off of River Road, and pretty near to 4 10. So it’s kind of newer. Like, well, step by step’s been around for over 20 years. the restaurant part of it is only, about three ish years old.

Scott Cowan [00:53:56]:

Okay. And

Amy Cross [00:53:57]:

then they’re opening a child development center and and different things too. So

Scott Cowan [00:54:01]:

— So I’m drawing. I’m kinda trying to piece together where 4 10 and River road hits.

Amy Cross [00:54:07]:

near summer. So kind of kind of near 167 and

Scott Cowan [00:54:11]:

410. Mhmm. That that whole inter inter that whole, you know, spaghetti nightmare. Okay. Alright. And so what would you have for lunch?

Amy Cross [00:54:19]:

Oh, there’s it’s farm to table and they’re making changes all the time. So

Scott Cowan [00:54:25]:

you know, and you wouldn’t know until you got there using your your thing before. So it’s not like —

Amy Cross [00:54:29]:

It’s always wonderful. And I have allergies. So it’s actually some place we go to often that I don’t get sick. after I eat there.

Scott Cowan [00:54:36]:

So — Oh, well, that’s —

Amy Cross [00:54:38]:

So, yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:54:39]:

I think that’s I I think, you know, for for most of us, that’s kind of the goal. We don’t get sick after we eat there, but for people with with sensitivities and allergies, it’s more complex than that.

Amy Cross [00:54:48]:

Yeah. Now when they say it’s farm to table, it really is because

Scott Cowan [00:54:51]:

— Okay. —

Amy Cross [00:54:52]:

additives and preservatives, do flare my body up, and I don’t get sick when I eat there.

Scott Cowan [00:54:56]:

So — That’s that’s wonderful. So — I guess

Amy Cross [00:54:58]:

it’s not the best plug for them. I don’t get sick when I eat there, but no.

Scott Cowan [00:55:04]:

I now know how I even promote this episode.

Amy Cross [00:55:09]:

Yep. It’s really great. It’s really but I do have food sensitivities. So

Scott Cowan [00:55:13]:

Right. Right. So more book. You’ve got another book in you, you think? I know that you that you’re holding out on some some some I

Amy Cross [00:55:23]:

have a whole children’s book line. Like, a whole nine book series, like, that’s ready.

Scott Cowan [00:55:31]:

So — That’s cool. Alright.

Amy Cross [00:55:32]:

Yeah. Yeah. So I have I have that. It’s it’s sitting in Trello cards. I have the outline, all of the things. We’re hoping that we get the the I bought it now, what, like, complete guide on store fronts 1st, and then we Cowan start looking at hiring illustrators and stuff. So I mean, if any publishers want to, like, but I would love to find a publisher that does cookbook, kind of books, and children’s books. So we same publisher. Same same.

Scott Cowan [00:56:03]:

Yeah. The same workflow, if you will. Okay.

Amy Cross [00:56:05]:

And interesting enough, my grandmother’s cousin was Laurel England’s Wilder. And so the idea of, like, a book can really change your family for generations. It’s something that we think about.

Scott Cowan [00:56:19]:

Oh, wow. Okay. putting you on the spot with a, you know, first off, what the question I’m about to ask you has no right or wrong answer. So don’t Don’t overthink it. Your favorite city in Washington State.

Amy Cross [00:56:36]:

Coleman.

Scott Cowan [00:56:38]:

k. Maybe there wasn’t one. I’m just kidding. so alright. So just —

Amy Cross [00:56:44]:

Or Sumner, Washington is also pretty amazing, but I love the main street, the downtown field, the, you know, camaraderie with other people, is really important to me.

Scott Cowan [00:56:57]:

Okay. And Sumner has that. I haven’t been to Paulman in

Amy Cross [00:57:00]:

so many years. I I

Scott Cowan [00:57:01]:

haven’t been to Paulman in so many years. what I remember of Paulman is I don’t remember the downtown. I I would go see friends at WSU, so I’d be primarily in campus area. But Sumner’s has a a really nice, small town downtown feel to it. It it really does.

Amy Cross [00:57:19]:

the weather is totally different on both sides of the street. So I would go towards pullman, which had nicer weather. all year long for me.

Scott Cowan [00:57:28]:

Right.

Amy Cross [00:57:28]:

But, yeah. So are

Scott Cowan [00:57:29]:

you a fan of are you so are you more of a fan of the heat? Is it the is it the is it the the the the the sun and summer weather, or is it that you like harder winters, not the the and I kinda kinda joking here. The —

Amy Cross [00:57:45]:

In interesting. And I have reflective sympathetic dystrophy, and I live in Wet Washington. Uh-huh. But the damp days like today when it’s, like, you know, 38 and damp or 48 and damp, these are harder for me than if it’s super cold or if it’s super hot. So, I’d rather have snow or hot than damp.

Scott Cowan [00:58:08]:

Okay.

Amy Cross [00:58:08]:

So I always say my heart beats 5 9, and we will be moving back to Eastern Washington at some point, but it really does affect, my my pain levels. And — Okay. my energy and stuff.

Scott Cowan [00:58:20]:

Well, we got we got snow today. I mean, here I am. Yeah.

Amy Cross [00:58:24]:

We have rain. Yeah. And and

Scott Cowan [00:58:26]:

and I also I grew up I grew up in Puyallup in Puyallup area. Just I was at Tacoma address, but just off of 512 Canyon Road area. So you you know the area. Yeah. I grew up there, went to college in Ellensburg, lived in Seattle for 20 some years. The South area moved to comma blah blah blah blah blah. And in 2017, we just I got I was commuting from basically from y’all to Olympia every day. Mhmm. Too many taillights too many windshield wipers. And The gray just seemed to never and I know this isn’t fair. I folks, there’s gonna be somebody who’s gonna say about me being grumpy and negative about Western Washington. And I am, but in all fairness, it just seemed like it never never got a run of blue sky. It just always seemed like it’s July, and it’s still overcast. It’s still, it’s August. It’s we had those 3 days of a hundred degree temperature where you wanna die because you’re not equipped for it. And it just was like, I just didn’t wanna sit in traffic anymore. Yeah. So we moved over here to Winache. And if I’m fair, as I was looking at my phone just a second ago, my phone tells me, and I’m looking outside and I can see fresh snow, partially cloudy, 34 degrees, and it’s a gray sky. It’s not a blue sky today. So I didn’t succeed completely, but I like the weather here. Mhmm. The 509 side of the state’s weather.

Amy Cross [00:59:58]:

The only thing I would super miss moving that way is not seeing the mountain as much as possible. Like, you don’t realize, like, how many times you look out the window all day long to see, is the mountain out yet? Is it out yet? Like, are we gonna see it today. And then you realize, like, sometimes that, I haven’t seen it in a month. Like, it’s a true thing, and when to Washington. Like, if the mountain’s out, everybody’s gonna get mood, and it’s because it’s, you know, the sky’s a little bit Cowan and all those kind of things, but we can go a month, or we can go 2 months without seeing the mountain that should be out all of our windows. Like — Well,

Scott Cowan [01:00:33]:

as you come up 10 is you’re heading east on 4 10. As you’re coming up the hill, it’s you know, it feels like you’re running into it. Exactly. It’s it’s magnificent. It is we are all of us in the state to to have the topography that we have across the entire state is we’re we’re all very, very, very blessed to have what we have here across the entire state. I I really don’t can’t think of there’s a a place of the state that I think is ugly. They all it all even and and some people would say, you know, the Moses Lake, Ritzville, that flat area, but even that has its charms.

Amy Cross [01:01:13]:

Well, it has harvest season. Right. And it has us charms.

Scott Cowan [01:01:16]:

I mean, and the blues is amazing. where we live is is amazing. Where you’re at, you’ve got Mount Rayneres is your neighbor. And — Mhmm. — that’s awesome. So as we wrap this up, I have a couple ending questions for you. The first question is, what didn’t I ask you that I should have?

Amy Cross [01:01:38]:

Oh, I don’t know.

Scott Cowan [01:01:39]:

k. I just wanna make sure we didn’t overlook something glaringly obvious that I should have should have asked.

Amy Cross [01:01:46]:

How about this is just the tip of the iceberg about the tip I’m going to end up teaching you to go follow me.

Scott Cowan [01:01:52]:

Okay. Hang on a second. Well, we’re gonna give you that, and I’m not gonna interrupt you because I absolutely want that, but I do have a question I meant to ask it earlier. Sure. So if you go to Costco and you buy salad in a bag in, you know, industrial, and I know you you’re not doing that. But Can I if I were buying lettuce, you’re saying wash it. Let it try. I wanna be a little more lazy. I’m willing to buy it, wash it, let it dry. I’d like to chop it up so that it’s ready for a salad so I can just grab and go type thing. Will that work?

Amy Cross [01:02:31]:

The salad will work if you do it that way. Okay. But Perry’s don’t. Perry’s don’t.

Scott Cowan [01:02:36]:

So berries, we have to leave whole.

Amy Cross [01:02:38]:

Yeah. They’ll start deteriorating. but, like, carrots and celery and lettuce, sell it basket kind of items I prep and get ready. And then they’ll last cucumbers. They’ll last for about 10 days after you slice them. So they all kinda have their a a a

Scott Cowan [01:02:53]:

shorter shelf life than if they were a whole, but it’s still it’s still possible. Okay. Great. That was fantastic.

Amy Cross [01:02:59]:

bagged lettuce is the most recalled produce item. Even though it often says triple washed. So one is going to spoil quicker when you’re buying at the store compared to, like, a whole head of romaine. But I would still wash it when you bring it home because it still has listeria. It still has equal light. It still has all those kind of things that it gets called for all the time.

Scott Cowan [01:03:22]:

Right. And

Amy Cross [01:03:23]:

if you just spend those few minutes washing it, you know, it’s actually safe for your family to

Scott Cowan [01:03:28]:

eat. Okay. Actually, I have another question for you that I meant to ask earlier. So you mentioned Costco for some kroger brand, Fred Meyer, is your, you know, and you can buy produce they’re all gonna be kroger soon. It seems like Safeway and Albert since you’re joining kroger. So anyway, it’s all kroger soon. And then you said during the summer, you go to farmers markets. So a couple questions about farmers markets. Do you have any tips and tricks for somebody who might be intimidated by all the choices that they have at a farmers market. And second question, Do you have in your area, which farmers markets do you like to go to? because they’re all a little different. I mean, they’re all they all kinda have their own local. The Puyallup one’s different than the Auburn one. It’s different than the rented one. I mean, similar, but they all have a little different stuff. So for you and your family, any preferences on farmers markets, And are there any hidden gems that you might suggest somebody try at a farmers market?

Amy Cross [01:04:41]:

I just believe in picking things that look appetizing to you. So, you know, if they look pretty, if they look appetizing, if it’s something that you’re excited about. Like, pick those items. Don’t pick items that you’re not excited about.

Scott Cowan [01:04:56]:

Okay.

Amy Cross [01:04:56]:

You know, like, that is a big thing. I don’t care where you buy it at. you know, like, every time I go to a farmers market, especially the farmers market, I always try to pick something that’s new that I might not know that, you know, like, get a dragon fruit. Get something different that I wouldn’t normally get just to try it out to see, you know, to have my family experience it, but I love going to the farmers markets, especially when they’re the growers. Like, when you can you can see, oh, you know, we picked this this morning or, like, you know, it might not be listed as organic. because that government official title is really expensive, but to trust your farmer that they’re wanting the best for you, like, That’s so important to me. Like, so, yeah, I love going, which is kind of Cowan I’m an introvert. I really don’t like talking to strangers right about but I do like going and talking to the farmers at different markets. I I like the one up in Enum Claw. It seems like It has a lot of, even people that come over from Eastern Washington, but that they’re willing to want to talk about their produce a lot of times and RPL up 1 is just amazing too that’s available.

Scott Cowan [01:06:13]:

Shell up market. It’s a great market. I haven’t been to the enum call 1.

Amy Cross [01:06:17]:

Yeah. It’s like a Thursday evening 1. It’s a evening 1, which is kinda nice.

Scott Cowan [01:06:21]:

Which is kinda nice. Yeah. I mean, Washington states getting more and more farmers markets all the time, and they’re all Maybe not all, but they see it seems to me like the trend in farmers markets is up. Mhmm. Like, that’s trending upward. I mean, more and more people are trying to bring things to the marketplace very locally, very hyperlocal. Maybe maybe you’re growing garlic in your backyard and you’re selling it at the at the at the farmer’s market. Once a season, it’s that, you know, as a starter thing. So I think that’s great. Okay. So once again, what should I ask you that I didn’t? You don’t have to do your promotion thing yet. We’re gonna gonna let you close out with that. So was there any other topic that you would have liked us to talk about?

Amy Cross [01:07:07]:

I’m an allergy family. Like, I’m an allergy mama. And so a lot of the recipes on our blog and different things are allergy based in teaching people how to swap out items. I remember how scary it was when I first found out that we had allergies in the family. So that’s something that I talk about a little bit. here and there, but most of our recipes are allergy based and and trying to train that. But to really to really reach out to those especially moms that are scared when they first get those diagnoses, you know, like, oh my gosh. I don’t know what to buy a thicker shoes store and to give them encouragement. It’s it’s not just about produce. It is about batch cooking and, you know, teaching how to have meals all day long.

Scott Cowan [01:07:54]:

Okay. So my last question for you today is probably not an appropriate question to ask someone who said they’re diabetic. but here we go. cake or pie and why?

Amy Cross [01:08:08]:

pie. because I always have frozen berries in the freezer that I need these, and I can control the sugar in it.

Scott Cowan [01:08:16]:

Fair enough. Fair enough. Amy, thanks so much. But to round this out, where can people find out more about you, about the cross legacy, What social platforms do you want them to take a look at? Go for it.

Amy Cross [01:08:30]:

We are the cross legacy on all social media. So every single TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, you can find me under the cross legacy on Instagram, I am the one that personally answers every comment, every question. So even if you just get a little heart, it means I read it, and I acknowledge that I read that comment, So, when people are trying to get an answer to a question or something, I am on Instagram every single day. And then we have over 2 135 videos on YouTube for more instructions. And then we have the legacy.com, and that’s where you can buy the book or join the course, or there’s weekly blog posts over there too. So the cross legacy. I’m Amy Cross. and the cross legacy.

Scott Cowan [01:09:17]:

Amy, thank you so much for taking the time to sit with me today and and have a conversation. Show the fridge. That was awesome. Your kitchen backdrop is it looks like it’s a TV set. it and it’s very holiday, but so up over your right shoulder, What’s yeah. What’s what’s up there? It’s down.

Amy Cross [01:09:35]:

I can just like my girl did.

Scott Cowan [01:09:37]:

Okay. So that’s not canning

Amy Cross [01:09:39]:

Yeah. So there’s, cranberry juice and tomatoes and pickles and mango salsa and beets and carrots and pickles There’s more pickles. Oh, they’re pineapple. See, I have pineapple up there.

Scott Cowan [01:09:49]:

It’s a it’s

Amy Cross [01:09:50]:

a big pizza. Yeah. Green beans. And then I have more in the pantry.

Scott Cowan [01:09:55]:

More in the pantry? Okay. No. It’s it’s it’s it’s visually, it’s a it’s a great display. So Thank you so much. I really appreciate you. You’d sit in and talk to me any day.

Amy Cross [01:10:04]:

Thank you for having me.

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Exploring Washington State Podcast( Podcaster )

The Exploring Washington State Podcast is your go-to source for discovering the diverse wonders of the Evergreen State. Whether you’re seeking inspiration for your next adventure, looking to savor local cuisine, or eager to learn about the businesses and artists that call Washington home, this podcast has something for everyone. Join us as we showcase the splendor of Washington State, reminding you that “there is always more to explore!”

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