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 : Warm Lentil Salad with a Poached Egg

How BORING was that Super Bowl? Not even the commercials were any good! I was expecting to bawl like a hungry baby at the Budweiser commercial with the puppies, but I just got this confused deja vu feeling that they had done a similar commercial a couple of years ago. Talk about stale. And I am so very sorry to any and all Denver fans out there- after the first half it was just mean what Seattle was doing to y'all.

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? 

Pearl CousCous Vegetable Salad

 This has been one of my favorite side dishes lately. First off, look at at all of those colors! Helloooo vitamins! Thanks for joining the party- you are super delicious.

Thai Peanut Sauce Noodles with Veggies and Chicken

I don't know why I have waited so long to make this recipe. It is SO freaking good. I guess I thought that using spaghetti for anything other than Italian style recipes was kind of sacrilegious, but that was just crazy talk. I am hereby a complete convert in using semolina/durum flour pastas for everything... you know, because I really needed another excuse to eat more carbs. NOT. 

Easter Ranger Cookies

Lately my definition of insanity has been having piles upon piles of recipes, lists of lists of things I want to make, and suddenly walking into the kitchen and thinking, "I don't know what to cook next!"

Uhhh, say what now? Clearly, I have problems.

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.

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.

Strawberry Scones

I have a feeling that many parts of America is huddled under down comforters by the fireside, cursing the winter snow and wishing it were spring time already. Me, on the other hand, is cursing that it’s gotten so warm so quickly here in Okinawa.