If you can't take the heat...

...then get out of my awesome kitchen!

Just kidding, don't leave. Stay and admire my favorite space in any home. I love cooking, baking, and creating, so I'm super happy my kitchen here in Belgium doesn't disappoint. We have a large fridge (much larger than the one I had whilst living in London in 2006), cool stainless steel counters, a great range, and lots of storage. And a Nutella cookbook. And le creuset coffee mugs (swoon). One thing we don't really have is an awesome oven. Have a gander at this bad boy:

Yeah. That's a microwave/oven combo. Honestly, it functions totally fine; it's just the size that gets me. It's literally no bigger than the average microwave, so putting a sheet of cookies or a large roasting pan in that thing is impossible. C gave me the kitchen low down before I left California by saying, "The oven is fine; you just can't bake a bunch of stuff in it." First, thank you for that rousing description, C. Second, do you know who you're talking to? I once made it a goal to try at least three new Pinterest recipes each week. I need me an oven. But alas, this is what we have and I've made it work thus far. I guess I'll have to roast a massive turkey when we move back to Cali. You're invited.

Here are a couple of meals that hit our table this week:

1.  Homemade roasted marinara from my friend's blog, Recipes for a Quarterlife. She's hilarious and healthy, a great combination. I suck at photography while she is very good at it, so be sure to check out her pics after you look at this amazing shot of my ingredients pre-oven:

I added balsamic vinegar because I add it to everything.

2.  Easy, healthy chilli from another blog I follow, Plum n Peach. Super flavorful and simple to make. C and I loved it!

Could be made meatless if necessary!

These recipes were easy to execute, both in terms of ingredients and my micro-oven. I'm anxious to get into my full cooking groove once I really get the lay of the grocery land. I can find the majority of ingredients here with no trouble at all, but some things are harder to find than others. Everything else is being sent over in a box via my mother. She rules. I'll dip into my grocery conundrums and our trip to the American Grocery Store next week! Bon week-end!

Ciao!

B + C