Valentines Day is quickly approaching and it’s not just for lovers! You don’t have to be in a relationship to get the most out of this holiday. Whether you have a significant other, children or just a few friends and family, there is much reason to celebrate. You will find that showing those who are dearest to your heart know how much they mean is abundantly rewarding for everyone.... and what better time to do it than on Valentines Day!?!
So now, we think HOW to make this day as special as possible. If you are going out with a special someone, you don’t need to visit an expensive restaurant. The $80 bouquet of roses is unnecessary. If you NEED to get her flowers, hit up your local supermarket for the flowers and buy a unique vase to put them in. Skip the large heart-shaped box of mixed chocolates; it’s most likely they won’t be eaten anyway. Instead, splurge on a decent quantity of their favorite candy or make a homemade treat. Put it in a little decorative box and hand-write a little note on the outside. The idea is to make the other person feel special, not empty your bank account. I’m going to cover ideas below to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a “special someone” as well as a few fun and easy things to do with the little ones.
DINNER ~ If you have the extra cash and a reservation already made, then by all means skip this section. If you want something a little more from the heart and less from the wallet, then read on. A dinner at home can be made as intimate and special as an evening out. You just need to set the mood. Step one: find a grandma to take the kids for the evening! Next, make sure the house is clean and tidy, especially the dining area. Clutter is distracting and unappealing. It will ruin a mood as quickly as hearing “MOMMY” being yelled from the next room. Make sure the house smells nice. The idea is to have a relaxed, inviting atmosphere. Make sure you are looking your best as well. Even if you're not going to an expensive restaurant, dress like you are. Going the extra mile on your appearance will make your partner feel special. Next, set the stage. Lay out a nice dark table-cloth, place a few candles in the dining room (just don't put any on the table that are so tall or big that they are distracting) lay out the nice dishes (NO PAPER PLATES!!!) and a couple of wine glasses. If you don’t have a set of wine glasses, invest in a set. They’re relatively inexpensive and add elegance. Have a bottle of wine chilling in the refrigerator. If you’re not very familiar with wine, try a White Zinfandel or Prosecco. Both are crisp and clean on the pallet. They also pair well with most rich, heavy or sweet foods. If you don't drink alcohol, buy a nice sparkling white grape juice.
Main Course ~ when I think of a romantic dinner I always think of pasta. The beauty is, Pasta is cheap & easy to prepare. Even with the most basic of kitchen skills you can create an amazing dish. Partner it with a salad, a loaf of crusty garlic bread and a decadent dessert and you have an unforgettable meal. I am going to give you my two favorite easy pasta recipes as a main dish; Carbonara and Chicken Parmesan.
Carbonara: This is a favorite dish in our home. The rich, creamy sauce is deceptive. It seems so complex but is actually quite simple…and has no cream! It takes around 20 minutes to prepare from start to finish. However, it looks and tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen. Traditionally, this dish is made with pancetta, but I prefer to just use standard bacon. Also, if you like seafood, don't be afraid to toss in a little sauteed or grilled shrimp to the finished dish.
Ingredients:
·
½ lb spaghetti noodles
·
1 pkg of bacon
·
4 eggs
·
½ C grated Parmesan (buy real parm, don’t use the stuff
in a canister)
·
¼ C grated Romano
·
Garlic, salt & pepper to taste
Slice up the uncooked bacon into small sections
(around 2”) put the bacon pieces in a large pot (NOT a skillet – think soup
pot) and allow it to start frying. Allow it to cook until slightly crisp then
remove from heat. While the bacon is frying, start boiling your spaghetti
noodles. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl whisk together your eggs, cheeses
and seasonings.
When your noodles are done, remove about half of
the bacon grease from the pot and return it to a low heat. Toss the drained
noodles into the pot of bacon (& bacon fat) and mix until all the noodles
are well coated. Then pour the egg/cheese mixture on top of your bacon-noodles.
Stir continuously over low heat until the egg/cheese mix starts to melt and
become creamy. FYI…don’t be lazy. If you have it on high heat & don’t keep
stirring it you will end up with scrambled eggs instead of a creamy sauce.
Chicken Parmesan: This is another dish that seems
elegant and complicated, but is truly SO EASY! Use your favorite spaghetti
sauce (homemade or store-bought) but do not add any ground meat to it.
Ingredients:
·
2-4 chicken breasts
·
1 pkg of original shake n bake
·
¼ cup grated Parmesan (use the stuff in the canister)
·
Mozzarella cheese
·
Olive Oil
Start by getting your spaghetti noodles boiling
and your sauce cooking. While that is on the stove, begin flattening the
chicken breasts to about ¼” thick. You can beat them with a meat mallet and
make a huge mess OR place a large sheet of plastic wrap on a cutting board.
Place a chicken breast on the plastic wrap fold the plastic over the breast.
Gently use a (glass) drinking glass to pound the chicken. It will flatten out
easily. Sprinkle the flattened breasts with a little garlic, salt & pepper
and set them aside. In the Shake N Bake bag, mix 1 pkg of the SnB with the
Parmesan cheese. Shake each chicken breast in the bag until it is evenly
coated. Put a little olive oil in a large frying pan and fry the coated chicken
breasts over medium heat until they are golden and crispy on the outside. Try
not to flip them more than once (so you don’t lose your coating. It shouldn’t
take them more than a total of 15 minutes to fry. Once they are finished lay
them out on a nice platter (or big plate). Immediately pour a little sauce over
the top of each breast and sprinkle with mozzarella. By the time the platter
reaches the table the cheese will be slightly melted and beautiful! Serve
alongside the prepared spaghetti & sauce.
Dessert ~ Finish your meal with a dessert that is
lovely and rich. Here is an easy dessert that is best if made ahead of time. I
have a niece, who was born around Valentines Day and this is one of her
favorite desserts. I think of her every time I make it!
Individual Chocolate Cheesecakes (8 servings)
Recipe & photo courtesy of kraftfoods.com
Ingredients:
·
1 (8 oz) pkg of cream cheese, softened
·
4 TBS of sugar
·
4 squares of semi sweet chocolate (melted)
·
2 C of Cool-whip
·
8 Oreos
·
Chocolate chips for garnish
·
Muffin Tin with 8 paper cups
Put an oreo in the bottom of each of the paper baking cups in the muffin
tin. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, & chocolate in a medium bowl with a wire whisk until well blended. Add in the cool whip & mix well. Pour the mixture on top of the oreos in the muffin tin. Sprinkle with chocolate chips & refrigerate at least 2 hours. To make the filling easier & prettier I put the filling in a large plastic bag, snip off one of the corners and “pipe” it into the muffin cups.
KIDS PLAY!! Creating hand-made personalized Valentines Day cards is the perfect way to spend quality time with your little one and create a one of a kind item for them to share. There are so many fun and creative ways to do this. Sure, we could buy our kids the valentine box-kit that comes with a lollipop, but what fun is that? If you make your own, you get to spend real time with your kid and they’re left with a real sense of self-accomplishment when they’re done. WIN-WIN! I’m going to show you a couple ideas that we’ve used. However, don’t be limited to what we have here. There is a fantastic website, http://familyfun.go.com/valentines-day/valentines-day-cards/ that has a ton of amazing ideas. From Hershey's Kiss Roses to really cool optical illusion photos. (Check out the ginormous lollipop idea!)
But I digress, last year we bought several 6 packs of the Kool-Aid Bursts for my son’s classmates, Diet Coke for one teacher and Red Bulls for the other two teachers. (It helps to know the teacher’s favorite beverage!) We then made little cards out of card-stock. (You could even use the store-bought ones). We used a hole-punch and put a hole in the top of the card, threaded ribbon through it and tied it around the neck of the bottle/can. It was a fun, unique idea and was quick and simple to do. For the Red Bull cans, a little piece of tape was used to help secure the ribbon to the top of the can. This can be a fun, surprising way to show anyone that you love them. (not just on Valentine's Day) I got the idea from my good friend, Katie. I was having a bad day at work and she left me a surprise; sitting on the desk was a bottle of coke that had a bunch of ribbons and a funny hand-made card tied around the neck. I couldn’t help but laugh & it really made my day.
This is the Valentine Aiden made this year to share with his classmates. We got the idea from the family fun website. They are heart-shaped multicolor crayons. We spent last Saturday sitting on the living room floor watching cartoons and peeling paper off of old broken crayons. We then put the crayons in a heart-shaped silicone mold I picked up for $2. The mold has 6 hearts in it so we made 3 batches. (FYI, the mold was discolored afterward and I wouldn’t be comfortable using it for future food-use) We put the silicone mold on a cookie sheet for stabilization and “baked” the crayons at 200º until they were melted. Then we carefully placed them in the freezer to harden. The result was these awesome little creations. The best crayons were the ones that had contrasting colors next to each other on the bottom of the mold. i.e: yellow next to blue, orange next to green, etc. We made a card from 2 contrasting colors of card-stock and put the heart-crayons and cards in small plastic bags. We then folded over a piece of the card-stock and stapled it to the top of the bag. We used matching letter-stickers to create the “Love, Aiden” sentiment, but only because we have several packages of them lying around. Otherwise, I would have used my printer! The great thing about this project is, that we finally figured out what to do with that big tub of broken crayons!!
Another way to show your family how you love them is to bake a little something special. This is a cupcake recipe that my Mom always made for us on Valentines Day. The recipe was handed down to her from her Mother. My Grandmother will probably haunt me for this, but I'm going to give you all her recipe. Don't be surprised or turned-off by the ingredient list...the uniqueness is probably why no one has ever been able to duplicate the rich moist cake. FYI, it is so moist it doesn't do well being baked as an actual cake...bake it as cupcakes.
Grandma Norman's Chocolate Cupcakes
Sift together:
2C flour
1/2 C Unsweetened Baking Cocoa
1 C Sugar
2tsp Baking Soda
Mix in separate bowl:
1 C Water
1 C Miracle Whip (yes...the mayo alternative, but do NOT use real Mayo!)
1 tsp Vanilla
Combine both mixtures, bake at 350 until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Makes about 20 cupcakes
Icing
Mix:
2 TBS melted butter
1/2 bag of powdered sugar
approximately 2 TBS milk (If icing is too thick, add milk 1 tsp at a time. If it is too thin add more powdered sugar)
My Mom always topped them with the little heart-shaped “red hot” candies. However, I like to dip them in coconut. Either way (or plain) they are amazing.
Cupcakes can be stored at room temperature, but do not seal them in a container. Leave the lid "popped" a bit to allow for air circulation.
No matter what you do for Valentines Day this year, don’t lose sight of why (or who) you’re celebrating. The point isn’t all about seeing how much money you can spend and it’s not just for lovers. It’s about showing those around you how special they are.
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