enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

dinners in.

Meals

We spent our first two weeks in San Diego supporting the local economy at restaurant after restaurant. It was fun for awhile, but we were so excited when we landed an apartment and the movers brought our boxes full of kitchen supplies to cook again. So excited, that we decided we'd cook for ourselves until the end of June.

No going out to dinner, no take out, nothing.

Above are the photos. The evidence of our challenge. It's missing a few because I went on a cruise for a bachelorette party. And because some nights I forgot the photo. (And we're ending tonight because I am going on a trip tomorrow.) But we did it. And we ate really well. We learned some great new recipes and relied heavily on some old favorites.

As soon as Paul is back on a slightly easier rotation, I think we'll try this again.

mosaic made with big huge labs. click to enlarge.

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26 responses to “dinners in.”

  1. Jennifer Avatar
    Jennifer

    That is so cool! I want to do that for the month of July, but am having trouble coming up with a variety of recipes. Did you plan ahead? Would you care to share the types of food you made (not recipes, just some ideas).
    Thanks, Elise! I love your blog!

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  2. Marina H. Avatar
    Marina H.

    Rock on, lady! Those look delicious! My boyfriend and I have been trying to rely on one grocery store trip a week, aka, planning out all our meals to make on Monday night. So far so good, and I agree, it’s fun to come across a lot of fun new recipes! Plus lunch = leftovers!
    Thanks for sharing the pics! Have fun on your trip!

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  3. Brandi Avatar
    Brandi

    Yum! You should post some of your favorite recipes for all of us who are now fighting hunger pains….

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  4. Emily Avatar
    Emily

    Which was your favorite? Which did you have the most fun making?

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  5. April W Avatar
    April W

    Very cool! Feel free to share any of those recipes…they all look YUMMY. 😉
    – April

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  6. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    hi! thank you. We did a lot of pesto (made in the food processor with asparagus and basil), a lot of homemade pizza, nachos in the oven with chicken and some slow cooker recopies. Normally we planned for the week ahead but still ended up at the grocery store every 5 days or so. Hope that helps! Good luck with your challenge!

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  7. chris Avatar
    chris

    I’d be curious to know the answers to these questions as well. Along with, which was the easiest &/or least time-intensive?

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  8. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    nachos are always our simplest dish. We cook chicken on the stove and then layer chips, shredded cheese, black olives, tomato and onion and the chicken in a baking dish. It cooks in the oven for about 10 minutes at 400* and we eat with sour cream and jalapenos. …and guacamole when we have an avocado. Tastes great and super easy.

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  9. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    our new favorite were some of the slow cooker recipes. I will share some soon. 🙂

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  10. desiree Avatar
    desiree

    triple yum.

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  11. Emily Avatar
    Emily

    This is inspiring!
    I just moved in with my boy and I love making him dinner. :]

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  12. Anna Kristina Scherling Avatar
    Anna Kristina Scherling

    What a great idea to take photos! My hubs and I try to cook most dinners and plan it out, but end up at Trader Joe’s every few days for an ingredient we forgot… 🙂 I’m also eying your lovely collection of cloth napkins – any suggestions on stores with great selections?

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  13. annakristina28 Avatar
    annakristina28

    What a great idea to take photos! My hubs and I try to cook most dinners and plan it out, but end up at Trader Joe’s every few days for an ingredient we forgot… 🙂 I’m also eying your lovely collection of cloth napkins – any suggestions on stores with great selections?

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  14. Stephanie Avatar
    Stephanie

    We love to do nachos as well! I also add a can of whole black beans to the mix; and, sometimes instead of chicken I brown lean ground turkey and then add a packet of taco or fajita seasoning (basically cook the meat according to the directions on the packet) and then layer it with the chips, etc. . . ).

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  15. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    I registered for tons of cloth napkins in anticipation of ditching paper. Ours are from target, crate&barrel and the anthropologie sale section!

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  16. Kathy Aylward Avatar
    Kathy Aylward

    Hi Elise great pictures and it’s great to eat home cooked meals. Well done and your budget thanks you too I’m sure. I agree, the napkins look great too.

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  17. Pixie Avatar
    Pixie

    I def need to try this! My problem isn’t eating out so much as being lazy and waiting until it’s too late to cook so I end up eating a PB&H sammie. I also struggle with buying just enough food so that it doesn’t go bad. As a single lady it’s hard to cook for one. You can’t buy ONE head of broccoli, it’s always masses and maaasssses of broccoli per bunch at my stores.

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  18. Jessica F Avatar
    Jessica F

    Looks Yummy. Would love some recipes, especially the vegetable lasagna one that you mentioned in a previous post!!

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  19. Vanessa Avatar
    Vanessa

    elise, i think that you have just made me hungry!amyways,how long did you live in sacramento?cuz right now i currently live in sacramento;)

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  20. Melissa Audit Avatar
    Melissa Audit

    you need names for these delicious lookin’ photos!

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  21. Suzanne Avatar
    Suzanne

    Great looking recipes and great mosaic! Thanks so much for offering the tutorial on making them! I made one for my new blog: SuzanneA.typepad.com. My print showed up SUPER lovely! I can’t wait to frame it! Thank you again

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  22. maggi Avatar
    maggi

    I see you like homemade pizza, I suggest that you make deep dish pizza in a cast-iron skillet. The dough takes hardly any effort and no rolling out. We got our skillet from a garage sale for 25 cents.
    This is the recipe I use, all you need to know is how to make the dough…
    http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10862?section=
    I wish I had been making pizza this way my whole life.

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  23. Johanna Avatar
    Johanna

    Homemade dinners are wonderful. We started to “really” cook and plan weekly trips to our local farmer’s market about 3 years ago and I have found it to be such an enrichment to everyday life 🙂

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  24. Flo Avatar
    Flo

    I applaud you two for sticking to your resolution !
    The heat and humidity are back full force here (Japan) and I have to admit it’s a bit of a challenge to summon enough energy to cook everyday. For the past weeks, when I cooked something, I’ve doubled or tripled the portions to freeze for later meals, so that made it a bit easier, but still…
    The pictures look really yummy…well, the food does 😉
    If you feel inspired to post a few recipes, don’t hesitate, I’ll have my notepad out in the blink of an eye !
    Good day to you !

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  25. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    I lived in Sacramento from 1995 until 2003 when I went to college! My parents are still there so I am in town a couple times a year.

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  26. ali @ gimme some oven Avatar
    ali @ gimme some oven

    Wow – I’m so impressed! 😀 These look amazing!

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