Cilantro Chicken with Peanuts an easy meal idea for even the craziest of days

I talked a lot about the ease of cooking, it is so important to not allow cooking to become something that is so complicated that you avoid doing it. Learning how to put things together in a way that is healthy and tasty but also very easy is a vital way to cut down your food budget. I relearned this lesson last week while we were in the middle of moving and unpacking. I felt too tired and things were too chaotic so we ended up eating out for most of our meals, all together we spend more last week on food then I normally do for two weeks worth of meals. The thing is I know plenty of dishes that take no time at all and are very tasty so really I have no excuse. The biggest thing is making sure you have certain basic stock items in your house all the time, that way when those crazy days sneak up on you there is always something you can put together for dinner.  I always have cilantro (coriander) on hand as well as chicken so this easy meal just required me to get some honey-roasted peanuts. Although you could just use plain peanuts as I have done before and it taste just as good. This recipe was yet another culinary delight that I got from my Sonoma Diet Cookbook, I can’t say enough about their recipes. They are not only healthier as they are apart of their diet, which on a side note is a lifestyle-focused diet, which in my opinion is the only way to successfully diet. The other added benefit of the recipes is that they are all easy to prepare and these days with a little one needing constant attention that is a very important thing.

General Tso Chicken better then you can get at restaurants

After a very disappointing experience at a Chinese restaurant last week I decided that it was time to go back to what I do best and make some at home.  For me Asian cuisine is my culinary staple, it is how I really came into my own as a cook.  I always enjoyed cooking meals but I never realized how good of a cook I could be until I decided to get more into my Chinese food.  It too all started from a bad Chinese food experience at a restaurant.  Sadly because I grew up in Hong Kong I am a bit of a snob when it comes to Chinese food and at the time I was living in East Texas and no matter where I tried the food was way below par.  So I began experimenting, seeing if I could do better and thankfully I discovered that it came quite easily to me.  Sometimes I stick to very authentic dishes, but I do also like to try and cook up some of the Americanized Chinese dishes. This time I decided to try my hand at a very American dish that normally in restaurants I avoid, General Tso Chicken. What I discovered about this dish is that not only is it an easy dish to prepare but it is so much better prepared at home then in restaurants.  This dish turned from being something my husband would never eat to a dish that he will now request.