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.

Meatless Monday : Quinoa Cakes with Cream of Mushroom Soup

Oh my friends. Please forgive my absence. I literally had every intention of blogging through July and then as soon as I was settled back into life in the States... which I thought would be a couple weeks after our arrival. I completely underestimated (read: forgot) how difficult and stressful an overseas PCS can be. 

Light Minestrone with Chicken Meatballs

Yes, you're right my dear friends. It's the end of June. The temperatures are squelchingly hot. My windows literally sweat with condensation during the day because of the temperature differences between my cool, comfortable house inside in comparison with the sauna/steam room that is the Okinawa summer. Egads, it's freaking hot. So why on Earth would you want to make soup in the middle of summer? 

Lemon Soufflé with a Sweet Cherry Sauce

Y'all! It's officially lemon season! Bright, beautiful lemons are popping up everywhere, it seems, and these little babies were just begging to be used in something other than a risotto or pasta sauce or as a splash in a cocktail. I've never done a lemon dessert, so I figured, why not?

Tiramisu Cheesecake & My 1st Blogiversary!

Well, I made it! Butter Than Toast has been in existence for a full year today! In the past 12 months, I’ve written 72 posts including this one, which equates to an average of 6 posts each month. My original goal was just one post per week, so in that sense I’ve done a lot better than I originally thought I would.

Chicken à la King (A Clean Recipe)

Are there any dishes that you enjoy nowadays that started out as a "what the heck is on my plate" type of thoughts? For me, Chicken à la King was one of those dishes, and I can distinctly remember that It was in the galley (Navy speak for cafeteria) on base in Pensacola, Florida when I first experienced the dish. I had gone through the line, not knowing what Chicken à la King was, but excited to try something new. Clearly, I was new to the Navy since the words "galley" and "excited to try something new" were in the same thought.

Roasted Vegetable Soup

I am on a soup kick lately- the weather here has been absolutely perfect for it. It's "winter" here in Okinawa, which means temperatures in the 50's, overcast and rainy. It's not the winter I would prefer, but I'll take what I can get. Just like the 30 Minute Chicken Noodle Soup I posted the other day, this recipe is high flavor, low maintenance. 

Back to Basics : 30 Minute Chicken Noodle Soup

If you believe that delicious, healthy, and homemade soup requires tons of skill and hours upon hours of simmering time on the stove- listen up! You. Are. Wrong.

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. 

Homemade Marshmallows

It's finally winter here, but before I get too excited let me just caveat this by saying it's still 60 degrees out. It's just a cold 60 degrees. Do you categorize temperatures like this, or is it just me? It's been grey and rainy and cool enough to leave the windows open at night while I snuggle under the covers, instead of the 60 degrees accompanied by a baking sun, stifling humidity and no breeze.

Artisan Bread

One of the things I miss the most about living in America are the bakeries. Panera, Corner Bakery, Einstein Bros, the list goes on. Nevermind that they are chains, I don't particularly care. I love their freshly baked breads that completely blow the supermarket sawdust breads out of the water. Japan has their own niche of mom and pop bakeries, but the Japanese breads are not as hearty as the artisan or whole wheat versions I have come to know and love from home. They definitely have their place, but with a typically very soft and sweeter texture, they almost seem like breakfast or dessert breads instead of hearty sandwich or soup dunking breads.

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!

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!

Breaded Halibut with Chipotle Mayo

I was kind of lacking inspiration for dinner last night. I had cleaned the house from top to bottom all day and been in the kitchen messing up a chocolate cupcake recipe since I didn't have enough eggs. I needed something quick, something light, something not chicken or beef.

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.

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.

Chicken and Dumplings

It seems like everyone and their mamma is either pregnant or having babies recently. I may be slightly biased since I work as a nurse in Labor and Delivery and the birth rate amongst military seems to be higher than the moon. Still, I've reached the age where people are actually trying to get pregnant- planning families, buying homes, starting LIFE. When did we grow up? When did things get so.... real?

Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have of this surprisingly delicious dish. I have a good excuse, I promise: I fed my coworkers. My overworked, under-appreciated, exhausted coworkers. The enlisted corpsmen live in dorm style barracks and have little to no facilities to cook food on their own, so they are forced to choke down whatever the hospital's cafeteria has to offer (Hospital food = bad. Military chow hall food = bad. Combine those and that's what they eat daily) or take a taxi out into town since most don't have cars and pay a lot more money to eat local cuisines. I feel for them, I do. I remember missing certain foods when I was a freshman in college and having no money but being completely sick of the cafeteria food. The other option was the 7-11 style store, which sold frozen dinners and junk food, which also gets old extremely fast.

Tuna Pea Wiggle

Sadly I only have one picture of this delicious dish. Me being a complete space cadet left the camera in the "on" position for a couple hours before deciding to make this for dinner, and the battery died after I was able to snap this one shot. What can I say, I've been frazzled lately!! Travis and I are going to Hiroshima for the weekend in celebration of our 3 year wedding anniversary on April 25. I've been working, doing laundry like a crazy woman, cleaning, getting our dog Otis to our friend's house for the duration of our trip and trying to finalize our to-do list for while we are in mainland. It drives Travis crazy, I am sure, that I try to plan out flights, hotels, trains, subways, and busses down based on their schedules I can find online. Despite his free spirit desiring to wander around for 3 days, I am proud of myself for finding them since everything is in Japanese and it can be difficult to determine which link to follow when you're looking at everything written in a very foreign language. I just don't like getting lost, or having a lot of downtime on vacations. I don't like feeling like I've wasted time walking around when I could have researched the destination a little better prior to going. So with that monstrosity of a to do list right before our trip, a quick dinner was in order.

Chicken Pot Pie Pockets

Chicken pot pie is one of my very most favorite foods. Comfort, veggies, bread-y crust, creamy sauce- what's not to love?? My only qualm with traditional pot pies is that there is never enough crust. Blame it on my inherent need to dip breads into soups if you must. A higher crust to filling ratio is essential for pot pie nirvana. .....Too radical you say? Do not judge my zealous views about pot pie until you have tried these.