Today is Sunday, which means that I completed the first week of my “Dine at Home (DAH) for a Month” Challenge! YAY! I am happy to report that I did not cheat once. This week went by really fast, especially because Monday was a holiday, and I didn’t really encounter any urges to veer off course. Let’s see if I can keep it up for the next 25 days!

Here’s the recap of the meals I cooked at home this week:

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Lunch: I ate the meat-stuffed pepper (recipe here). I used leftover ground beef and green pepper so I spent absolutely zero dollar for the meal.

Dinner:  My fiancé and I had a sushi party at home. He got us a package of assorted sashimi ($10) and we made hand rolls. We had white rice, vinegar, cucumber, eggs, wasabi, soy sauce, etc. already, which helped keep the cost down.  I know that $10 for dinner is not cheap but it’s nothing compared to going to a sushi restaurant! We love home sushi party. It’s so much fun. We also ate a side of handmade gyoza that I had in the freezer (recipe here).

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Lunch / Dinner:  I made a big bowl of pasta salad which I ended up eating for both lunch and dinner. This salad is so easy to make, very affordable, and absolutely delicious. I mixed sliced onion, capers, smoked salmon, and chopped Mozzarella cheese with Rotelli pasta ($0.99 for a pound), and dressed it with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. I also drizzled a little bit of La Tourangella’s Infused White Truffle Oil that I had picked up from Whole Foods a while back. I love this oil – it adds that luxurious flavor to any dish. It’s really strong so be careful not to over use it!

Snack:  I enjoyed homemade Chocolate Chip Scones with Dunkin’ Donuts coffee at home (recipe here).

Friday, June 3, 2011

I ate the leftover pasta salad for lunch (it’s even better the second day). For dinner, I went to my parent’s house and had a feast of mom’s homemade gyoza and Yudofu Nabe, a Japanese hot pot! Thanks, mom and dad! I love you!

Saturday, June 4 and Sunday, June 5, 2011

I’m combining these days because I ate the same thing. I am so thankful that I LOVE leftover food. I can eat something for weeks before I get tired of it.

Lunch: I enjoyed the homemade Focaccia for lunch (recipe / instruction here). Because the bread was so fresh, I ate it just like that. I didn’t even bother making it into a sandwich or anything. It was simply delicious as is.

Dinner: OMG, I love this dish. I made Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta from Ellie Krieger’s The Food You Crave (I talk about the dish here). It’s a simple tomato stew-type dish with lots of shrimp. I used the frozen shrimp I had purchased on my first shopping trip for the challenge ($8 for 16 oz and I used about a quarter of the bag). Instead of Feta, I used Goat Cheese because I like the tanginess of the cheese with this dish. It has lots of dills and parsleys, and is absolutely delicious. I had the side of Focaccia with the stew.

I’m looking forward to another great cooking adventure next week! 🙂