Valentines Day Meal Ideas

If your like a lot of us this Valentines Day, you are very short on cash after the holiday season. I know that for us, we are scraping by from the Christmas spending. As much as I would love some jewelery and my husband would love some sort of electronic gift, in reality we know that most likely, we will just end up preparing ourselves a nice dinner at home and just watching a few movies on TV. Sometimes it is nice to just dine in with a nice meal, as with our handful of a two and a half year old, we can't go out to eat a lot.

So, if you are low on funds and can't afford to go out to a nice restaurant, or simply can't find a babysitter, head to the video store, plan on staying up late, and try out some of these nice dinner ideas. They are some of my favorites.

My ultimate most favorite meal would have to be fillet mignon, garlic mashed potatos, and artichoke.

My husband will go to Albertson's and pick out a nice cut and bring it home and season it himself. Fillet Mignon can be a bit pricey, but probably still cheaper than a two person meal at a nice restaurant. He sprinkles it with seasoning salt, rubbing it gently into both sides of the meat. Then he adds a variety of other steak seasonings and a little lemon pepper. Then he uses a basting brush to spread some spicy BBQ sauce over the top of it.

While he is preparing the fillets, I peel the potatos , cut them into chunks and boil them in water. After they have been brought to a nice broil, I reduce the heat and let them simmer until they are nice and tender. Once they are done, I drain them and set them aside.

Then I take the pan that I boiled the potatos in and 6tsp of butter to it, letting it melt. In a separate pot or pan I pour ½ cup of milk and bring to a boil. Then I remove the milk quickly from heat so it won't curdle. Then I pour the milk and butter, some mashed garlic cloves and salt and pepper into the potatos and mash them all together. Then I beat them together for about a minute. They are really, really good.

Then my husband will cook the artichoke in the steamer for a little bit. We melt a little butter in a small bowl to dip the little leaves into.

All of these foods together on one plate is like heaven.

If your looking for something that requires less time in the kitchen, here is a cute idea that even the kids will love. Heart Shaped Pizza.

Buy a package of Pillsbury pizza dough. Press the spoon against the side to pop it open and roll it out. Take a heart shaped cookie cutter and cut as many hearts out of the dough as you can. Place the hearts on a butter flavored cooking spray coated cookie sheet. Spoon pizza sauce, shredded cheese and topping of choice onto the hearts. Bake in the oven at 350 until the crust is lightly golden.

If you are looking for a yummy dessert, here is my favorite. Jimmy's Jimmie brownies. I made these for my husband when we first met.

Purchase brownie mix of choice. Mix ingredients according to package. Add two capfuls of mint extract. Mix thoroughly. Bake according to package instructions. When the brownies are done and thoroughly cooled, spread chocolate frosting over the top of them. Sprinkle sprinkles and Jimmies on top of the frosting. Then arrange red hots anyway you want to all around the brownies. These are really, really, overly good. The mint may sound strong, but they are GOOD.