Send us a text"I stockpile food as a comfort. I'm never out of any type of pasta. Never."Courtney Zaugg, founder of VentureVets—a 501(c)(3) accelerator supporting veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs—and co-owner of The Contractors, a general contracting company in Indianapolis, on why her pantry drawers won't close and why she made thirty different freezer meals in one week to prep for her husband's shoulder surgery.This conversation gets real about what founders actually eat. Courtney comes from a lineage of food entrepreneurs—great grandfather, then grandparents with catering and wholesale, then parents with restaurants that ultimately failed—which shaped everything about how she thinks about food, comfort, and survival. Growing up poor after her parents lost their restaurants taught her: you never throw away food. You freeze it.Her morning? Skip breakfast. Just coffee. Lots of coffee. Then up and at it, traveling often for work. Her lunch? Small meal at home or meetings on the road. But dinner? That's sacred. Home-cooked meals from batch cooking on Sundays—a tradition since early in her relationship with her Marine Corps veteran husband.Her system: Make big meals on weekends. Tacos, wonton soup, chicken soup, grilled meats. Make extras. Freeze the rest. Pull them out when it's busy. Because Courtney does not like making a meal every night. She loves making big meals from her Greek-American upbringing where food brought everyone together. Just not every single night.Her fridge? Dairy everywhere—eggs, cheese sticks, cottage cheese, yogurt, lunch meat—even though her husband is allergic to milk. Her pantry? Overflowing with pasta (never runs out), cereal, trail mix, Cheez-Its, applesauce, protein bars—so full she can't close the drawers. Her freezer? A frozen turkey from Easter. Thirty different meals prepped in July (because her family demands variety, not fifteen identical chicken soups).But here's what matters: Courtney protects Dessert First Fridays. School pickup, ice cream at the local spot, home for pizza and a movie in PJs. Food isn't restricted. It's celebrated. Nothing is off limits. Creating positive memories around food for her daughter.Courtney also shares how her parents shut down after losing their restaurants and never taught her to cook (she learned from her grandmother), why her husband quarterbacks the morning routine so everyone gets fed, and how batch cooking isn't just efficiency—it's paying homage to her family while fueling a life building multiple businesses.CONNECT WITH VENTUREVETS: Website: TheVentureVets.com LinkedIn: VentureVetsMORE FOUNDERS FRIDGE: Website: www.foundersfridge.com Substack: https://substack.com/@foundersfridge Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2535711Subscribe for more conversations about what actually fuels founders.Check out our Substack!

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