enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

I promise, "photos of our dinner" is not going to become a constant feature. BUT this week was rad and I have some great recipes and a pizza cooking tip to share. So gather around the table, friends.

Nothing from Sunday because we were at a friend's house where they grilled pizza. It was awesome and something we'll be trying for sure. (Stay tuned.)

Burger

MONDAY : grilled turkey burgers with sun-dried tomato aioli & wheat buns.

Turkey burgers are the easiest – buy a carton of lean turkey meat, divide it into six pieces. Form patties. Salt and pepper each side. Grill for about four minutes a side. Add cheese if you're into it. The end. We fancied them up with sun-dried tomato aioli because I said to Paul "babe, what other kinds of aioli can we make?" He looked into the fridge and spotted a jar of sun-dried tomatoes. So we googled and found this recipe.

Here is how we made it ours :

  • 1/4 drained (not too much olive oil) sundried tomatoes
  • 1/2 C greek yogurt
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • pinch of cayanne pepper
  • pinch of dried basil
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • a bit of honey

Mix it all up in a food processor. We started with the first four ingredients and then added the rest to taste. The honey was to counteract some of the sour greek yogurt flavor. I am a fan of mayonnaise, but we didn't have it in the house, so we went with greek yogurt instead.

Tacos

TUESDAY : pork barbacoa tacos.

Hooray! We started a tradition with Taco Tuesday!

We really wanted to try making barbacoa in the slow cooker and the original plan was to use beef. But it rained on Sunday and the farmer's market was closed and we couldn't buy from our beef guy. So Paul picked up some pork and we followed this recipe with a few adjustments so it could work in our slow cooker.

Pizza

WEDNESDAY : turkey sausage pizza.

Paul read an article about pizza in a Bon Appetite magazine while waiting to get his haircut on Sunday. Apparently the article was pretty fantastic and it had a few suggestions from a chef about cooking pizza in the oven. Since we got married, we have been building our pizzas on a pizza peel and then sliding them into the oven and onto a pre-heated pizza stone. The article recommended moving the top rack to the highest level and preheating your stone at 550*F. Then, just before you are ready to slide your pizza in, turn off the oven and on the broiler. The stone provides heat from the bottom to crisp the crust and the broiler "bakes" the toppings.

We tried it and it was amazing. Sold.

ps : this is how we make our crust.

Nachos

THURSDAY : chicken nachos.

I get more questions about our nachos than any other meal which makes me smile. Basically it's the easiest dinner ever. We fill a casserole dish with chips then add BBQ chicken, onion, black olives, tomatoes or red bell pepper (only this week I forgot to pick up tomatoes) and cheese. For "sides" we use guacamole, sour cream and jalapenos. The whole thing gets baked at 400*F for about 10-12 minutes. The first time we made these, I was still in college and just visiting Paul in Maryland. Since we started living together (and when he's not deployed) we make nachos for dinner about once a week.

And that's this week in meals. Tonight, we are back to basics with brussel sprouts mixed with turkey sausage.

Posted in

26 responses to “this week’s dinners.”

  1. Kelsey Avatar

    We love to grill pizza! I wrote about our process in a blog post awhile back: http://www.risingshining.com/home/2011/10/1/grilled-pizza.html
    When I bake pizza in the oven I also pre-bake the crust and I learned a tip from my friend that before adding toppings to the pre-baked crust, use the bottom of a drinking glass to flatten the middle part of the pizza and leave the edge un-pressed, this creates a nice, defined crust around the edge!

    Like

  2. Sammy G. Avatar

    love it all. i make my own crust as well and its always so much fun. i may have to do the vegetarian versions of all of these haha

    Like

  3. April Avatar

    Thanks for the pizza baking suggestion, we are making our first pizzas tonight with the kids.
    As always, I enjoy reading your blog, you have such an infectious enthusiasm for living a full life.
    Happy Friday,
    April

    Like

  4. tanya s. Avatar
    tanya s.

    besides looking amazingly delicious! I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who doesn’t always take the time to iron my freshly washed (and wrinkled) napkins 😉

    Like

  5. Molly Avatar
    Molly

    i really wouldn’t be mad if you did a food feature every week! your meals look amazingly good!

    Like

  6. Anna Avatar
    Anna

    Thanks for the great meal ideas! It seems like we are always cooking the same few meals over and over. I’m excited to mix it up and try some of your’s! They look amazing and simple.

    Like

  7. Nat Avatar

    Grilled pizza is awesome because you get that nice char flavor without using a professional pizza oven. Just make sure that your grill is CLEAN and oil it. It cooks really fast! We did a summer party last year where we did several grilled pizzas and threw them on our backyard table on large cutting boards and let everyone have at it.

    Like

  8. elise blaha Avatar

    haha! Nothing in our house gets ironed!

    Like

  9. Jessica Avatar
    Jessica

    Love your dinner ideas and all of your foodie type pics. Everything always looks deliscious and your presentation is amazing! Thanks for sharing.

    Like

  10. Lindsey MacDonald Avatar

    Your food posts inspire me to make a home cooked meal, I agree with the others I would still read your blog if it was a feature. One of my fave was your month of dinners post!

    Like

  11. MandyF Avatar

    Everything is looking good, definitely gonna try them myself! Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Like

  12. JayEssJay Avatar

    although you say this wont become a regular feature… i certainly wouldn’t mind. as creative as i am in some areas, i struggle in the kitchen. im determined though, and love posts like this for inspiration!

    Like

  13. emily Avatar

    I love reading about what people eat! 🙂 I read that article in Bon Appetite, too and have been wanting to try it out since. Glad to hear it works well!

    Like

  14. Jessica at Kids Napping? I'm Scrapping! Avatar

    I’d rather you didn’t promise sad things like not making this a regular feature. I love this! Looks so yummy. I am trying brussel sprouts this week.
    I love those plates. So. Much.

    Like

  15. Kristy Avatar
    Kristy

    I wouldn’t mind either! Looks delish!

    Like

  16. Love, Carrie Avatar

    These all look and sound delicious! Is it dinnertime yet?

    Like

  17. Cheryl Avatar
    Cheryl

    Elise-I love your blog because you are being you. Share your dinner photos anytime you want.

    Like

  18. Kathy Martin Avatar

    I want to eat at your house! You two whip up some yum stuff! We don’t do too bad here at our house. I find a lot of great recipes on Pinterest and discover the best foodie blogs in the process. Great to hear others buying local humane meats! We are fortunate to have a Whole Foods that has the best quality meats, local organics, etc.

    Like

  19. Michelle L Avatar
    Michelle L

    Thanks for posting this! I’d been eyeing your meals on Instagram this week! Those recipes look great!

    Like

  20. Nichole Avatar
    Nichole

    I would totally dig a food feature by you, Elise. I am crossing my fingers. You have to try the brussels sprout pizza from Shutterbean. It is delish.

    Like

  21. Stephanie Avatar

    Looks so yummy! You should totally throw this into your regular blogging routine!

    Like

  22. Sarah Avatar

    me neither! do it!

    Like

  23. emily s Avatar
    emily s

    Do you know what issue of Bon Appetit? I’d love to find a link online…I am obsessed with pizza! 🙂

    Like

  24. elise blaha Avatar

    Just asked Paul and he doesnt remember. Sorry we cannot be of more help!

    Like

  25. Skye Avatar

    Thanks for sharing! These look simple but really good. I love your napkins too 🙂

    Like

  26. Michal PCC Avatar

    This pizza looks very tasty. You cook http://obligacje.soup.io/ ?

    Like

Leave a reply to emily s Cancel reply