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Emilio Restrepo
No. 12Thursday 5 November 2026Free

Dad and home cook

Seven dinners a week from the same twenty things

I'm Emilio. I cook for my husband and our two children, and I sell dinner plans, shopping lists and planners, and two video courses.

Dad cooking with his two children in a bright kitchen
  • NewArepas with beans and fresh cheese
  • Lentil soup with rice and avocado
  • Cold chicken and potatoes for the park
Read more

The twelve staples

The twelve things I keep at home, and the dinners each one turns up in.

Pick a piece to see what uses it

Rice Long-grain, kept in a tin by the stove; the base of most of our dinners in 6 dinners. On the checklist

Black beans Cooked in one big pot on Sunday and kept in the fridge for the week in 4 dinners. On the checklist

Eggs A tray of thirty in the fridge; dinner when nothing else is planned in 6 dinners.

Corn flour Pre-cooked white corn flour for arepas; the dough takes ten minutes in 1 dinner. On the checklist

Plantain Ripe ones fried in slices, green ones cut into the soup in 3 dinners.

Potatoes A sack under the sink; boiled, roasted, fried or put in soup in 6 dinners.

Tinned tomato Blended with onion into the sauce under rice, eggs and chicken in 5 dinners.

Onions White and long green ones; every pot starts with a chopped one in 8 dinners.

Fresh cheese Soft white cheese, grated into arepas and dropped into hot soup in 4 dinners. On the checklist

Chicken thighs A tray of eight, split over two dinners and frozen in portions in 3 dinners.

Lentils Dry brown lentils; no soaking, ready in thirty minutes in 2 dinners.

Avocado One on every plate when ripe; bought hard and ripened on the counter in 3 dinners.

The dinners

Every dinner is made from two to five staples. The first one named is the one it grows from.

  1. Hands shaping arepas on a wooden counter

    5 min

    Arepas with beans and fresh cheese

    Uses corn flour, black beans and fresh cheese. Arepas on a dry pan with a pot of beans, ready in forty minutes.

    • Corn flour
    • Black beans
    • Fresh cheese
  2. Two children eating dinner at the family table

    4 min

    Lentil soup with rice and avocado

    Uses lentils, rice, avocado and onions. A pot of soup with no soaking, ready in thirty minutes.

    • Lentils
    • Rice
    • Avocado
    • Onions
  3. Two children flying a kite with their dad in a park

    5 min

    Cold chicken and potatoes for the park

    Uses chicken thighs, potatoes and onions. A tray roasted on Saturday night and eaten cold on the grass on Sunday.

    • Chicken thighs
    • Potatoes
    • Onions
  4. Pot of beans on the stove with sides

    5 min

    Black beans and rice, the Monday pot

    Uses black beans, rice, tinned tomato and onions. The pot I cook on Monday and the children eat from all week.

    • Black beans
    • Rice
    • Tinned tomato
    • Onions
  5. Two children drawing at a low table in the evening

    6 min

    Sancocho-style soup on a rainy night

    Uses chicken thighs, potatoes, plantain and onions. A thick soup for a wet evening, eaten at the low table.

    • Chicken thighs
    • Potatoes
    • Plantain
    • Onions
  6. Balcony view over red-brick blocks and green hills at dusk

    4 min

    Eggs, plantain and avocado for a late night

    Uses eggs, plantain and avocado. Dinner in fifteen minutes for the nights we get home late.

    • Eggs
    • Plantain
    • Avocado
  7. Printed family routine chart pages on a kitchen table

    6 min

    Seven dinners from twenty things

    Uses rice, black beans, eggs, potatoes and tinned tomato. How a whole week of dinners comes from one short list.

    • Rice
    • Black beans
    • Eggs
    • Potatoes
    • Tinned tomato
  8. Hands packing two school lunch containers

    5 min

    Dinners that pack into the lunch box

    Uses rice, eggs and fresh cheese. Cook a little extra at dinner and the lunch boxes are half packed.

    • Rice
    • Eggs
    • Fresh cheese
  9. Hand adjusting a drawn routine chart on a fridge

    4 min

    Potato and egg hash for a Tuesday

    Uses potatoes, eggs, onions and tinned tomato. Tuesday is the egg night on our fridge chart.

    • Potatoes
    • Eggs
    • Onions
    • Tinned tomato
  10. Hands shaping arepas on a wooden counter

    6 min

    My first week of dinners from the pantry

    Uses rice, black beans, eggs, potatoes and onions. The first week I planned only from what was in the cupboard.

    • Rice
    • Black beans
    • Eggs
    • Potatoes
    • Onions
  11. Two children eating dinner at the family table

    Dinner 14

    Rice with tomato and a fried egg

    Rice, a quick tomato sauce and an egg on top

    • Rice
    • Eggs
    • Tinned tomato
  12. Pot of beans on the stove with sides

    Dinner 13

    Chicken and lentil stew

    Thighs and lentils in one pot with onion and tomato

    • Chicken thighs
    • Lentils
    • Tinned tomato
    • Onions
  13. Hands shaping arepas on a wooden counter

    Dinner 12

    Fried plantain with cheese

    Ripe slices fried and eaten with grated fresh cheese

    • Plantain
    • Fresh cheese
  14. Two children drawing at a low table in the evening

    Dinner 11

    Potato soup with cheese and avocado

    Potatoes and onion boiled soft, cheese and avocado on top

    • Potatoes
    • Fresh cheese
    • Avocado
    • Onions

Newsletter

Latest letters

A new family dinner every Friday, cooked from the same short list of staples.

Online course

My course

  • Clay pot, plantains, eggs and rice in a moody still life
    Clay pot, plantains, eggs and rice in a moody still life

    Video course · 6 lessons

    Seven Dinners, One Pantry

    Six lessons on stocking the twelve staples and cooking seven dinners from them, one week at a time.

    • 01Twelve things to keep at home12 min
    • 02Cooking the beans and rice14 min
    • 03Arepas from corn flour15 min
    • 04One pot, two dinners13 min
    • 05Eggs and plantain in fifteen minutes11 min
    • 06Planning the week on Friday12 min
    $39Start the course: Seven Dinners, One Pantry

Downloads, a course and merch

Shop

Dad and his children walking along a leafy street

About

About me

I have cooked for my family in Medellín for fifteen years. My husband and I have a daughter who is eight and a son who is five, and every evening someone asks what is for dinner. A few years ago I started planning only from what was already in the cupboard and the fridge, and the question got easy.

Every Friday I write a short letter with one dinner and a shopping list. The staples repeat from week to week, rice, beans, eggs and corn flour, so you can watch the same twelve things turn into a different dinner each night.

What I sell is what we use at home: a four-week plan, a shopping list pad, a pantry checklist, a lunch box planner and two short courses. I cook ordinary food for children, and I show you how to plan it so the week is never a surprise.

Questions

How do the downloads arrive?

After checkout you receive an email with a download link, and the same link is shown on the confirmation page. Every file is a PDF made to print on ordinary A4 or Letter paper.

How do the video courses work?

You pay once and the lessons appear in your account straight away. Watch them in order or jump around, as often as you like, on a phone, a tablet or a laptop.

When does the letter come, and what is in it?

Every Friday. It has one dinner written out, the pantry things it uses and a shopping list for the week you can print. It is free.

Do I need to cook Colombian food?

No. The plans are built from rice, beans, eggs, potatoes, chicken and a few other staples. My family eats arepas and beans, and you can cook the same things your own way.

Is there merch?

Yes: tees, totes, mugs, prints and stickers with my own designs. Each is printed to order and shipped to you, and the cost and delivery time show at checkout.