I'll be cooking 2 meals for Valentine's Day this year, brunch and dinner. If family wants to snack in between meals, that's up to them.
I'm trying to use what we have on hand as much as possible. I went shopping this morning for the remaining items, but overall didn't spend all that much additionally. Here are the menus:
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| Heart-shaped waffles -- I bought a waffle iron at Value Village (thrift store) last July for $5.59. |
Brunch
egg, pepper, onion, cheese, sausage casserole (using frozen eggs, a frozen onion/pepper medley leftover from Christmas brunch, cheese we already have, and 2 sausage links from the freezer, diced)
scratch waffles (maybe no-egg ones)
canned pears (from the pantry, need using)
orange juice (from frozen concentrate. I did have to buy the oj this week.)
bacon (from the freezer, leftover from Christmas brunch)
coffee, tea, cocoa, milk
Dinner
beef fillet (from the freezer)
chicken Cordon Bleu (2 ready-to-cook servings from the freezer, leftover from birthday dinner last year)
sautéed fresh green beans and garlic (I did have to buy the green beans)
baked potatoes (Again, I did have to buy the potatoes)
scratch cherry pie (our tree cherries, pitted and frozen)
We had some leftovers from Christmas Day brunch, an entire unopened package of bacon and about 1/3 of a bag of frozen peppers and onions.
With the dinner's beef and chicken, since there are about 6 servings total, after cooking I'll slice each up, and we can all enjoy some of both. I tried to make dinner as stress-free as possible. After all, it's my Valentine's too.
For both of the meals, I only needed to buy 1 can of orange juice concentrate, almost a pound of fresh green beans, and some potatoes. The rest we had on hand, which I think is pretty good considering I haven't been doing that much grocery shopping for over a month now.
How about for your household? Will you be cooking any special meals for Valentine's Day? Will you be dining out on or near the holiday? Is Valentine's Day irrelevant for you?
Sounds like it will be good eating for Valentine's Day at your house. This year my husband and I have decided we will cook a meal together and use the good dishes. Nothing fancy on the menu. We chose what we really like. It includes creamed chicken on mashed potatoes, broccoli with cheese sauce, and blueberry cobbler.
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteI like how you and your husband will share the responsibility for cooking Valentine's Day dinner. And the menu sounds delicious! Hmm, I need to get out the good dishes sometime. Thank you for the reminder!
I really admire your enthusiasm for making a holiday special! All of you food sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteThese days, just the two of us, doesn't really sound appealing to make such an extravant meal. We would end up with too much leftover and our adult children's schedule don't equal having every weekend available but for me having weekdays available aren't an option either (work FT M-F). We saw our son this past Monday and will schedule a meet up with oldest daughter on Saturday. Other kids are out of town so we won't be seeing them. Perhaps we will go out for breakfast one day to celebrate but other than that, back to creating meals from the freezer to lower the level. We all love meals created from freezer and pantry so not a problem.
Alice
Hi Alice,
DeleteOh yes, I understand the scheduling with adult kids problem. My son works long hours M-F, then the two of them always have plans for weekends. So we won't be seeing them on Valentine's or the weekend. But we will have my daughter's boyfriend joining us for Valentine's dinner. We're looking forward to that.
We love creating something from what's in the freezer and pantry, too. I've made a pretty good dent in both areas this winter. It will be good to get low enough that I can inventory all of those little bits to use soon.
I hope you and your husband have a lovely Valentine's weekend together, whatever you choose to do to celebrate.
Hmm. Well, I sent both of our kids their Valentine's care packages, but .... I'm struggling with illness so Valentine's Day is likely to be a non-event in our house. We don't typically do a lot, but I generally make my husband a pie. Not sure if I'll be up to it this year.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, your menus sound like a true celebration. Serving an egg-based dish is a luxury these days.
Illness is so frustrating! I wish you well quickly.
DeleteThank you, Amanda!
DeleteHi Kris,
DeleteI'm sorry you've been struggling with an illness lately. I hope you feel more like you regular self very soon. What a good mom to send both of your kids a Valentine's package. They will really appreciate your care and thought. I know I did when I went away.
I hope your Valentine's Day will be lovely, even if it isn't how you usually celebrate. Prayers said for restoration of good health for you.