The Mom Flow: The Recipe That Saved My Sanity This Month

Welcome to The Mom Flow, where I share things that are on my mind in the hopes of helping you connect to your Mom Flow. Thanks for being here! —Erin Sousa

This month has been a lot. Like… a real doozy.

There’s been heavy family stuff happening behind the scenes on a few fronts – the kind of things that aren’t mine to share and I always want to protect others privacy, but they have rocked us in some really profound ways. Add zero childcare into the mix, and suddenly everything feels harder than it needs to be.

I don’t know if it’s age, experience, or just having been through enough hard seasons in life – but I handle it differently now. Not perfectly. Not gracefully. But more steadily. There’s a kind of resilience you build over time, and when things get tough, you learn how to lean on it instead of falling apart. That has to be one of the best things about getting older and going through some stuff in your lifetime.

As a mom, a daughter, a daughter-in-law, a wife, a sister – you’re often the person people lean on. The steady one. The capable one. The fixer. And lately, stepping into that role across multiple fronts has made me feel spread thin in a way that’s hard to explain unless you’re in it.

Don’t worry, I’m ok. Really. I just want to share the real real because we do that here, don’t we?

There is something that’s been quietly saving my sanity over the last two weeks – and it’s not what you think.

I’m calling it: Superhero Stirfry.

Because I refuse to let my entire life descend into chaos and food delivery app abuse. Especially when I’ve made a real commitment to myself to focus on home cooking, fiber, protein, and actually nourishing my body. I feel so much better when I do – mentally, physically, emotionally. It’s one of those foundations that keeps me regulated when everything else feels unpredictable.

This stirfry hits every mark I need:
It’s easy to prep.
Accessible ingredients.
It’s healthy.
It keeps well for leftovers.
My entire family actually eats it.
And there’s room for a little “whatever the hell you’ve got in the fridge” energy.

I love it with rice, without rice, with noodles, without noodles – it adapts to the season I’m in. No fancy sauce. No complicated steps. It comes together in 15 minutes, honestly.

It’s not a recipe – it’s a throw together meal.
It’s control when life feels chaotic.
It’s nourishment when I’m depleted (I get to say heyyyy, I did something good for my body and my family today!)

And honestly? I think I’m officially getting a wok and a rice cooker to make this whole thing legit.

Because sometimes the things that hold you together aren’t big or dramatic – they’re simple, steady, and repeatable. And right now, that’s exactly what I need!

Here’s my recipe, but when I tell you that anything goes, I mean it (and my little chopper is making the entire thing even quicker!)

Superhero Stirfry

2 lbs beef or chicken (or tofu!)
4 baby bok choy
4 carrots
2 red/yellow/orange peppers
3 crowns broccoli
1 bag snow peas
1 carton mushrooms
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup hoisin or oyster sauce
1/2 cup water
3-4 cloves minced garlic (adding ginger would be awesome, too!)
1 tbsp flour or corn starch
(toppings: green onions, sesame seeds, hot sauce)
serve with rice or noodles, or none at all

This is not a recipe where being exact counts! You just do you, use what you have, add more of what you like. A huge hack for me is asking my butcher to cut my meat how I like it! No dealing with cutting meat makes me very happy.

Grab a huge frying pan, wok or pot – listen, we are making this for leftovers – so don’t be shy!

Salt your meat, add to oiled pan. Brown. Add flour/cornsarch. Add carrots and water, allow to cook slightly while scraping the bottom. Add the rest of the veggies, garlic and sauces – and my big tip is to cook the veggies for less time than you think as they get mushy quickly.

How easy was that?! Let me know if you make this – I may even go in on it again next week.

There’s more! Keep reading this week’s edition of The Mom Flow by Erin Sousa; subscribe for free to receive new posts and support her work, here!