‘Brunch With Babs’ Barbara Costello on Empowered Aging and Her Favorite Family Recipe! (EXCLUSIVE)
Babs shares brain health tips, her best hosting advice, and a sneak peek at her new cookbook!
The internet’s favorite grandmother, Barbara Costello, who you may know from social media as “Brunch with Babs,” is all about brain health! The TikTok star is partnering with Eli Lilly and Co. to inform older adults when memory issues might be a little more than just normal aging.
Woman’s World had the opportunity to sit down with Babs and discuss her best tips for remaining proactive with your brain health, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and her best tips for entertaining! Plus, she gives a sneak peek of her second book, Every Day with Babs, which is set to be published on April 8, 2025! Dive in and learn all about Babs’ mission to keep cognitive health on the brain!
Woman’s World (WW): You are partnering with Eli Lilly and Co. to help older adults understand when memory and thinking issues might be a little more than just normal aging. What are your best tips for staying proactive about your brain health?
Babs: This is near and dear to my heart because my own mother suffered from these issues, and when she was going through them, she was very active. She was my age when she first started showing symptoms of memory and thinking issues and we really missed them. Maybe we were in denial because she was active and ran businesses and had lots of friends. But then we noticed the repeating of stories, forgetting how to bake.
So, we brought her to the doctor where she was evaluated, and then we started our journey. We didn’t have a website like morethannormalaging.com to get information. So, I have different goals this year that I’ve established. I’m busier than ever at 76 than I was at, like, 26, believe it or not, but my goal is 30 pages [of a book] a night. I’m also trying to exercise more. I’m more of a morning person, so I invested in a walking pad. It’s small, and my goal is 40 minutes a day. I always say there’s no excuse, rain or shine: you can get your steps in.
Plus, I’m trying to prioritize sleep. I’ve come to find out how important sleep is for your cognitive health. So, I think to focus on not only your physical health, but your cognitive health as well.
WW: Since you’ve experienced it firsthand with your mother, at what point would you recommend that someone in this situation should talk to their doctor?
Babs: If you’re going through it and your kids notice something, or I notice this is more than just me misplacing my keys…There’s something going on. The realization that you need to face this issue is the biggest hurdle. And if they’re not ready to make the doctor appointment, they can at least go to this resource and get a ton of information there.
It’s always better safe than sorry. The earlier that you can deal with this issue, the better it is for everyone.
WW: What would your advice be to someone who might be scared to take that first step?
Babs: I think reassuring them that they are loved. Let’s face it, we have no guarantee about tomorrow. Every day is a gift and having them there every day is a gift. I think supporting them and also going with them to the appointment [would help].
WW: What are some of your best tips to maintain a healthy lifestyle while also allowing yourself to indulge and have fun?
Babs: Connections with family and friends. I see my daughter every day and I get to see my grandkids. You have to embrace life every day and get out of your comfort zone.
I think living your life fully, making connections, making phone calls. If you haven’t talked to a friend in a long time, pick up the phone. Those are all such positive gifts that affect not only the body, but the mind, too.
WW: One of your tips for entertaining is to set up a beverage bar away from the kitchen. Tell me a bit about that and any other tips you might have for first-time or veteran hosts.
Babs: Anytime you’re entertaining, when people RSVP and they offer to help, say yes. Even if it’s just bringing ice or an extra cooler for drinks. And the idea of setting up a beverage bar and some appetizers that you don’t have to put in the oven is because a lot of times, before you’re ready to serve dinner, you need to collect your wits about you in the kitchen, without a million people. Try to keep more of a peaceful kitchen.
And I would say prep. Do as much as you can ahead of time. Grocery shop maybe four days ahead, set the table two days ahead, but do as much prepping as you can before the day.
WW: You’ve shared lots of recipes with your fans on TikTok and in your cookbooks—what is one of your favorites that you enjoy cooking the most?
Babs: Well, the recipe that put me on the map is my overnight breakfast casserole, which I can make blindfolded. It’s so easy for anybody to make. You can make it tonight and serve it tomorrow morning. The recipe has so many memories, because this was our traditional Christmas morning breakfast and now my own kids make it for their families on Christmas morning.
It’s a recipe I clipped out of the newspaper over 50 years ago, and I still have the newspaper clipping. The most unexpected recipes could be the ones that have the most emotional attachment for your family,
WW: You have a second book, Everyday With Babs, set to come out in April—what can people expect?
Babs: I’m so happy you asked. Every Day with Babs is due to be released April 8th and it is 101 family-friendly dinners for every day of the week. We start with Monday, and Monday’s chapter is, Get Your Sheet Together—as in sheet pan meals. We have 12 easy, delicious sheet pan meals, some of which you can open up a couple of jars and get some chicken on a sheet pan and you can make dinner. You don’t have to call Uber Eats.
Tuesday is Two for Tuesday, so it’s batch cooking. If you’re making a meatloaf, make two and put one in the freezer or use it the next day for meatloaf sandwiches or crumble it up and put it on a baked potato. Wednesday is The One and Only Wednesday, one pot, one skillet. With a lot of these meals we also want your cleanup to be easy, because we know the importance of family dinner and we don’t want it to be daunting.
By the time Thursday comes around, your food budget’s been depleted, so it’s Thrifty Thursday, and it’s mostly relying on pantry staples that you have sitting in your pantry right now. Friday is Fri-Yay. It’s the end of the week so let’s have some fun. We’ll do pocket sandwiches, or this spicy sushi bake that’s super easy to make on a sheet pan.
Saturday is Low and Slow, with slow cooking recipes, because you’re out and about, doing errands, going to games. Sunday is Sunday Supper, and that’s more elevated. With Sunday Supper, I talk about the importance of sitting together as a family. And then the last chapter is Sweet Tooth. There are 101 really good ones [recipes].
Conversation
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