toaster oven foods

Why did I make a specific category for foods cooked in a toaster oven? 

1) Living in a studio apartment, space is a commodity. My oven has three racks, which means: Three shelves for storing things. Anytime I want to use my oven, I need to take out my roasting pans, griddle, pizza stone, cast iron skillet, and some other things I haven't crammed into some other cabinet.

2) The ventilation in our apartment isn't the best. It gets hot in the kitchen when the oven's going - especially during the summer months. 

3) Most nights, it's just Mr. Mari and me. It's just not worth the hassle of having to empty out the oven, heat up the apartment - just to roast two sweet potatoes. You know what I mean? 

4) Considering I've only owned two my entire adult life - and we're talking since college, one can say the toaster oven is pretty dependable. I've only ever bought DeLonghi. This is probably the closest model to the one I own. The original one came with an enamel tray that I still use to this day (they're now sold separately). When this one finally goes, I'll probably end up switching to this make instead. Don't get me wrong; DeLonghi has been very good to me. It was the best toaster oven I could find when packing up our family's Toyota van on my way to college. However, the power off knob on both models never stays off and I really hate the clicky-clicky sound the dial makes for the toast setting. 

5) Years ago, I decided to make miniature gingerbread houses as my contribution to our company's holiday party - 25 of them. I didn't have an oven at the time so they were all made in my DeLonghi toaster oven. Let's just say I got serious cred with my boss. This isn't a de facto reason for getting one but getting props still feels good. 

Maybe if I didn't live in a Manhattan apartment, I wouldn't own one but then I'd probably own a toaster for when I want toast. Except I find I need an oven more often than I need toast so I'm back to why I'm writing about toaster oven foods.