Lazy or Efficient?

Hey everyone, it's Karen here! I suspect that some of you may look at this week's super simple stray fry recipe and think “Precooked chicken? Bottled stir fry sauce? Are those really okay to use? Isn't that just lazy?” My answer is this: If those are convenient shortcut items that will help you prepare more food at home with less stress, then by all means you should feel empowered to use them (and for the record, it's not lazy, it's just efficient). I am all about dispelling the myth that eating well needs to be fussy or time-consuming. So what if you didn’t cook your own chicken or cut up your own vegetables or make your own sauce? Maybe this recipe kept you from going to the fast-food drive thru because you knew you had something super simple you could make at home. That is a win! But we tend to discount this kind of meal because it seems too easy, and you think you need to be putting in more effort. This is the message we have been trained to believe about eating well, but it is simply not true.

If you are a more advanced cook or are in a place where you can and want to do more of your own prep work, then go for it! You can cook some chicken or use fresh vegetables or make your own sauce. But the point is, there are options. Eating well is not an all-or-nothing proposition. It has a lot of grey area in which you can experiment to discover what works best for your personal preferences and lifestyle. Let’s abandon the myth of perfection and focus on progress. That is where the magic happens!