Sarah shared her normal mom confession last week. A normal mom confession is one that you feel bad for, but you aren’t sure why. They are the confessions that you feel nervous to admit, but then when you finally do, most people just look at you like, “What’s the big deal? I do that.”

An example of a normal mom confession is, “Sometimes I leave my clothes in the washing machine so long that the clothes start to smell, and I have to run the machine again before I can put the clothes in the dryer.” Obviously there will be people who can’t relate, but your everyday, average mom probably can. Everyone is good at something, and no one is good at everything. There will be a lot of areas where we will be “just average” and that is okay. This one is for all the average moms out there who are doing the best they can with what they are given.

Here is my average mom confession:

I buy “already made” stuff and stick it in my meal plan to give me a break on busy days.

Is that really a confession? I don’t know. It feels like it is. It’s not really a secret, it’s just not a practice I implement into my meal plans on this site because I feel like it is cheating. This week, I decided not to care. This is a blog for moms, not chefs, and most moms need quick and easy meal ideas that they can feed their families without feeling guilty for it. I am giving myself permission to put this out there because I feel like it frees up other moms from feeling guilty. I served my family teriyaki stir fry with chicken last night and the stir fry part came in a bag. I didn’t feel about it and yet I felt scared to share it on here. Welcome to my world.

Here is what I do from time to time…

Confession or inspiration, you be the judge. Here is what I do sometimes. I go to the store with the ingredients for 10ish meals on my list, knowing that I am going to buy two week’s worth of groceries. I will “impulsively” buy “already made meal ideas” when I get there to cover the rest of the meals. By saying “already made ideas” I am referring to frozen pizzas, freezer fish sticks, or freezer teriyaki stir fry in a bag. I like to do this because it gives me a few no-fuss meals to pull out on busy nights. The first time I did it I spent $150 and had two weeks worth of food and I thought, “Wow! I should have been doing this a long time ago!” So this is me giving you permission (if you need it) to buy the frozen pizza rolls from time to time and let it part of your meal plan. I understand that these foods can have more sodium and preservatives, amongst other things. I am not suggesting that you should eat these types of foods at every meal.

Ooo.. even as I typed that I felt the conviction of earlier years when I was bold enough to say such things and was ridiculed. Average moms: it’s going to be okay. This “recipe” is for you! 🙂

Here is what you need:

One bag of Teriyaki Stir Fry and some chicken. You can even leave out the chicken if you want. I got this stir fry in the picture from Aldi in the freezer section for less than $5.

Here is what you do:

Cook the chicken.

Add the stuff in the bag.

Cover and cook for five minutes.

Add the teriyaki sauce.

Cook for five more minutes covered.

And voila! Dinner is served.

For those counting, one cup serving with 2 oz. chicken is 4 WW Points+