This post was part of our collaboration with Jarlsberg cheese–check out the giveaway at the end of the post to win an amazing cheese board with tons of goodies!
Date nights in our house have become more frequent in the last six months since we have moved back home to be near family. But as we have a young family and only one of us is working a job with a steady paycheck we are always trying to have a good time on a tiny budget. Enter the stay in date night.
I grab fancy groceries on my weekly grocery shop, kiddos eat their own dinner and then get tucked into bed early (AKA their actual bedtime vs the 2 hours later they manage to stay up during summer), and we get to leisurely sip wine and eat dinner together without interruptions.
Our go-to meal for these nights is always easy….fresh bread, cheese, salami or sausages, olives, and jam or fresh fruit. This is easy beautiful food at its best.
We had our first stay in date night in our own house with a beautiful spread of Jarlsberg and all the fixings. It was a perfect hot summer day with the cool evening winds blowing in. The wine glasses had just been unpacked and we still don’t have a kitchen table or chairs but we are beyond grateful for where we are.
Of course this picture perfect date night ended being started while the kiddos were awake so that we actually had light for photos. Which means we ended up stealing some of their dinners too while we were at it. But we had wine and plenty of Jarlsberg cheese so all was good in that regards.
Jarlsberg cheese is delicious on sandwiches and burgers in the sliced form but we are loving it in the wedges for pairing on our cheese boards and these kinds of date nights. I’d actually overlooked it in the cheese section for years.
A little fun trivia about Jarlsberg: It’s a part-skim cow’s milk cheese with a sweet, nutty and buttery flavor that has large “eyes” or holes. Technically the USDA classifies it as a Swiss cheese but that is just because they don’t have a “Jarlsberg” category. It is not a true swiss cheese and if you haven’t tried it I would encourage you to because it has a very unique flavor! It has a secret ingredient that they add too to give it that “Jarlsberg” taste. They actually have a pretty funny little video about here.
We know that you all love Jarlsberg cheese too and we are excited to be partnering with them to bring you a chance to win an awesome cheese board with all kinds of goodies. Be sure to get entered and check out these other great Jarlsberg inspired posts:
Panzanella Kale Salad
Grilled Jarlsberg with Avocado Spinach and Bacon
Jarlsberg Pesto Panini
Jarlsberg Mushroom Turkey Meatloaf
I think a date night IN is more fun, and private. Of course our kids are grown and we wouldn't have it on a night the grandkids are over. It shows more forethought then simply going out to dinner somewhere and that to me is romantic. Thanks for sharing your date night in.
Love this stay at home date night, and what beautiful pictures you got, definitely looks romantic 🙂
So fun to do this with you! Thanks girl!
What a fantastic contest! Jarlsberg is one of my all time faves! Thank you!
What a fantastic contest! Jarlsberg is one of my all time faves! Thank you!
I love your date night! We do the same thing, although it's getting harder to do now that they are older and stay up later! 🙂
Awesome idea! I do loooove Jarlsberg!