BBQ Mini Meatloaves

Ok, so I know that I just posted a recipe yesterday with the selling point of eating clean and lighter after the Super Bowl... but these were too good not to share. They're not clean, nor are they considered health food, but I have heard there is another snow storm making it's way to the East Coast, so I figured there needed to be another hearty, low maintenance meal out there that would be the perfect fuel for the post snow-shoveling marathons my friends are going through right now.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Raise your hand if you grew up on taco spice that came from a packet! Yeah… me too. Don’t get me wrong, I think it tastes pretty darned good, but that was before I started reading ingredient labels. Now I can’t bring myself to use it except in emergencies (aka I didn’t plan well) because of all of the salt and unpronounceable nonsense that’s engineered to stay tasty 1 million years post-apocalypse.

Slow-Cooker Texas Chili

Chili is a very personal dish. Have you ever noticed that? I don't think there is another dish, except maybe pizza, that evokes such strong opinions. Everyone and their brother has the "right" way to make chili- with beans, without beans. With tomatoes, or without. Ground beef or cubed chuck. Suet or bacon fat. People get pretty passionate about it too- especially Texans, which I know from experience since I am a Texan. We are definitely the most opinionated of them all in the chili debate, and I'm not ashamed to say it. 

Super Sloppy Joes

I grew up on sloppy joes from a packet. Travis grew up on the ones from a can. Ho-hum and woah salty! In an effort to get away from overly processed foods, I decided to try to make my own. It was WAY easier than I thought it would be! I even ground my own beef for this recipe, which by the way is also incredibly easy if you have the attachment for your mixer!

Back to Basics : Beef Stock

So here we go with the next installment of Back to Basics. For those of you just joining, I like to post these über simple recipes that I believe everyone should know how to make. So far, we've done Vanilla Syrup to naturally flavor your coffee, Scrambled Eggs so you never have rubbery eggs again, and 10 Minute Croutons, which use hot dog buns to whip these up for salads and wraps.

Aussie Beef Pie

Today, my friends, I've got an Australian original for you! Hand held pies were everywhere in Sydney. It seemed like they were being sold in every convenience store, fast food joint and 5 star restaurant. There's even bakeries dedicated to making only pies- in just about any flavor you could ever hope for. Thai chicken, curry beef, roasted vegetable, feta with spinach, mushroom and sausage.... the combinations were endless!

World's Best Lasagna

Here-ye, here-ye -- friends and fellow pasta lovers!

Behold, the last lasagna recipe you will ever need!

I have declared, for the official record of my household and, well, for the rest of my natural cooking life that this lasagna is by far the best one I've tried yet.

Taco Rice

Sometimes there are really weird food combinations in Okinawa. Corn on pizza, mayonnaise and fried egg on literally everything, even habu snakes in bottles of sake.... the list goes on and is just as varied. One dish I had never heard of but have thoroughly enjoyed since arriving here almost 2 years ago is Taco Rice.

Meat Lover's Bolognese

When Travis and I got married, one of the things I wanted to learn how to make was his favorite pasta sauce his mom would make for her three sons growing up. She made vats of it at a time, because lets face it, three boys would probably eat a whole pot of it with a spoon as a pre-dinner "snack." 

It's a very meaty sauce. Meaty, chunky, with just a few veggies in there. Very manly.