Calming Cuisine

With the week having been overridden with sleepless nights and sick, sooky kiddos you would think I'd be calling the nearest pizza place. And after a long hard day of wiping noses and listening to the heart-wrenching cry of my baby for hours, I really don't look forward to cooking something up for my little family. But a hatred for spending money unneccessarily coaxes me there and suddenly, I am enjoying myself. You know I've come a long way when you hear me say that I have found cooking to be relaxing! In fact my FB status today was: There is something very therapeutic about mincing garlic and ginger root.

(Have you fallen off your chair yet, Mom?) *smile*

Are you curious now about the things that were so enjoyable to prepare that they brought a sense of calm to this Mama's harried day?

At my sister-in-law's advice, I tried this recipe - Tofu Cutlets with Green Olives and Prunes - for supper last night. On my own I probably would not have tried this. Green olives and prunes? Together? Really? It's a good thing I shoved those thoughts aside though because this was good! The only thing I think I'll do differently next time is double the sauce because 1) it was delish and 2) we ate rice with this so a little extra would have been nice to help flavor it. I especially loved how the tofu was breaded with cornstarch and flour! It made a perfectly crispy coating.

Peanut Noodles with Shredded Chicken and Vegetables is now an old favorite for our family. Before finding this recipe I tried a few other peanut flavoured type noodle recipes. This one far exceeds any of them and is so simple to make! It also has a spicy twist to it that is just right! (But isn't too much for the little ones!)

These are the Cranberry Muffins I made for the kids for Valentines Day. Piper loved them so much I've since made another batch but this time substituted in some whole wheat flour. Next, I'll likely start messing with the melted butter or sugar. Thats just my own attempt at a semi healthy muffin but the original recipe is so tasty! Even Taitum is slowly becoming accustomed to the bitter cranberry flavour and is not quite so disgusted by these muffins as she was originally! :)

This is the first cranberry muffin recipe I've ever tried though. Do any of you have a recipe that would be healthier while maintaining a good flavour? I adore the orange flavour that this one includes so I think I'll stick with something similar (as opposed to Lemon Cranberry muffins). But per usual I'm open to trying just about anything!