At Home Date Dinner for Valentine's Day

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Not sure how to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year? I highly suggest making a ‘Simple but Special’ meal and having a lovely night at home! This can be as a family, with your sweetheart, or with some friends.

You can do this a number of ways depending on who you will be celebrating with. Here’s the basic formula.

Festive Tablecloth

+

Candles

+

Simple but Special Homemade Meal

That’s it!

Let’s dig into it a bit more.

Festive Tablecloth + Candles—

You do not need to buy any new tablecloths or candles. Pull out something you have and find a way to make the setting festive—pinks and reds in most any combination work well, cut out a few paper hearts to layer under your centerpiece, maybe add a faux flower in a vase.

For the candles, you can use one big candle in the center, a bunch of taper candles in candlesticks, or anything in between. Again, you do not need to go buy anything new. Since it is one dinner, and meant to be a low-key night, don’t stress about it. It’s fun to pull together what you have and make something festive from it.

Simple but Special Homemade Meal—

What is a ‘Simple but Special’ homemade meal, you might be wondering? It’s something I’m hoping to talk more about on here, but basically it is a meal you wouldn’t normally make on a weeknight. It takes a bit more effort to prepare or maybe needs a long time to simmer. For our family, we love to make Homemade Spaghetti and Meatballs. It is not hard, but it does take a bit more time because it needs to simmer. The results are always amazing, and it feels special and a bit fancy.

A few other ideas that come to mind are

Any of these meals, served with a simple salad and maybe some French bread would make for a lovely meal!

In terms of dessert, you can make a cake or cookies, or to keep it simple, pick up a bar of high quality chocolate and divy it up accordingly. (These Hu chocolate bars are my absolute favorite, and they have no vegetable oils or lecithins in them!)

Other Thoughts / Variations—

For families, make sure to plan ahead with your meal so it will be ready when your family normally eats dinner. If there are things you can prep the night before, that would be a huge help. While you are cooking, enlist your spouse to entertain the kids for a bit to keep them from asking for 10,000 snacks while you are trying to concentrate :) or have your spouse help cook and put on a movie for the kids or maybe print out a few Valentines’s Day coloring pages they can work on before it’s time to eat. Definitely enlist the kids to help clear off and set the table. My daughter loves to pick the plates and silverware. My son loves to assign where everyone will sit. Ha!

For an at-home date with your spouse, put the kids to bed a bit early and have a later dinner just the two of you. It’s so nice to have time to talk together and connect, but it isn’t always feasible to get a babysitter. This is a great way to enjoy time together without going out. We try to have an at-home date on Friday nights. We feed the kids something simple—macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, spaghetti noodles with a jar of sauce, and then I put the kids to bed while my husband makes a special dinner. Then, we light candles and enjoy a meal with no one asking how much more they have to eat before they can be done. :) Wine or cocktails are a nice touch too.

For friends, enlist everyone to bring something for the meal. The host can make the main part of the dinner but have someone bring salad, someone bread, someone a dessert. If someone loves to decorate, assign them to the tabletop decor. If someone is your wine or cocktail connoisseur, put their talents to use. What are friends for if not to gather together for a special meal that everyone contributed toward. Light the candles and linger over dinner, or head to the living room to play a game or watch a movie.

I hope you have the most lovely, special Valentine’s Day at home this year!

Homemade Spaghetti and Meatballs

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Spaghetti is one of my favorite meals! This recipe is from Dylan’s grandmother, and it is amazing! It has come to be one of our family’s meals for special occasions—birthdays, Valentine’s Day, as well as Christmas Eve. I love to set a fancy Christmas Eve or Valentine’s Day table and dig into a plate of scrumptious spaghetti with homemade meatballs. There is nothing better!

This is from Valentine’s Day a few years ago, but I just love penelope’s face here. :)

Homemade Spaghetti & Meatballs

Sauce Ingredients

  • 1/2 onion, chopped

  • 2 cloves of garlic

  • 2 – 16 ounce cans of tomato sauce

  • 1 – 16 ounce can of tomato paste

  • 1 tablespoon sugar

  • 1 tablespoon oregano

  • 1 tablespoon basil

  • 1 tablespoon parsley

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

  • 1 – 2 bay leaves

  • Dash of Tabasco sauce

  • salt and pepper

  • 1 cup water

Meatball Ingredients

  • 3 slices of old bread soaked in 3/4 cup of water

  • 1/2 onion, chopped

  • 1 tablespoon parsley

  • 1.5 pounds of ground beef

  • 3 tablespoons of Parmesan Cheese, shredded

  • 1 egg

  • Salt and Pepper

For Serving

  • Thin Spaghetti Noodles

  • Parmesan Cheese

  • Salad and French Bread

Sauce & Meatball Directions

  • Before you start the sauce:

    • Put the bread slices into the bowl of your stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl) and cover with the 3/4 cup of water.

  • Make the sauce:

    • In a large pot, saute the onion and garlic in 1/4 cup of olive oil.

    • Add the rest of the sauce ingredients, stir to combine, cover the pot, and simmer for 30 minutes.

  • As the sauce is simmering, make the meatballs:

    • Give the bread a good stir, now that it is softened, to break it up.

    • Add all of the remaining meatball ingredients into your bowl with the bread. Gently mix until just combined.

    • Form into large meatballs. Set them on a cutting board or tray as you work.

  • After the sauce has simmered for 30 minutes:

    • Gently add the meatballs to the sauce. Just plop them in and put the lid back on.

    • Continue to simmer for 90 minutes to 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so to make sure it isn’t sticking to the bottom of your pan/burning. (If it doesn’t seem to be bubbling enough, turn it up just slightly. If it seems to be sticking on the bottom, turn the burner down slightly. Be very gentle as you stir the meatballs. You don’t want to break them.)

When you are ready to eat, boil the thin spaghetti noodles, drain, and divide into bowls. Serve with sauce and meatballs on top. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese to your heart’s content.

We love to make a fancy meal of this, so we usually have salad and warm french bread for a delicious meal!

I hope you love these Spaghetti and Meatballs as much as we do!

A Few Thoughts on Valentine's Day & the Simple Diy Cards I Sent

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I know that Valentine's Day can be a bit polarizing for people. I personally think it is a fun, cutesy holiday, if, and this is a big if, you don't make a huge deal out of it. Some years Dylan and I get a present for one another, some years we don't. Some years we have a big fancy dinner out, some years we try a new recipe at home, some years we eat frozen pizza. We don't have any big traditions to try to live up to, and we let our season of life guide how we celebrate. And honestly, that has made the holiday feel so carefree and fun.

This year, we are having one of our favorite easy dinners at home—quesadillas. I'm hoping to make these Sprinkled Rice Krispie Hearts with Finn earlier in the day to have for dessert. I think he is going to be so pumped because when you are almost three years old, sprinkles are pretty much the most awesome thing ever! Then, on Friday, Dylan and I got a babysitter and are going out to dinner. (He made reservations and won't tell me where.) We usually have our date night on Monday nights, so getting dressed up to go out on a Friday night feels so fun and special. So our celebrating is a combination of low-key and a little bit fancy. It's not anything extravagant, but it makes this week feel special, and that's all that really matters to me.

One way I like to make other people's Valentine's Day special is by sending out handmade cards. Again, they aren't extravagant, but I try to find a cute design or saying to show friends and family that I love them and am thankful for them. Below are the designs I used this year.

I bought these white cards with envelopes and this ink set from Amazon, but the main jumping off point were the Emoji stamps I found at Michael's. (I can't find them online, but this set from Amazon would work too.) I had to play around with colors and layouts a bit before getting it quite right, but I'm happy with how they turned out.

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you have a wonderful week!

On Love

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Quote by Ann Landers, advice columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Image illustrated by Mary Galloway for Refinery29.

Quote by Ann Landers, advice columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Image illustrated by Mary Galloway for Refinery29.

In honor of Valentine's Day, I wanted to share a quote about love.

"Love is friendship that has caught fire. It takes root and grows, one day at a time.

Love is a quiet understanding and mature acceptance of imperfection. It is real.

It gives you strength and grows beyond you—to bolster your beloved."

I really like this quote because I think it better reflects what true love looks like over a lifetime. A lot of what is written about love is overly inflated, and in my opinion, not accurate. It's more about infatuation that burns hot and then burns out.

True love has a solid foundation of friendship. It starts with a little spark and as you breathe air and life into it, it catches. You have to work at it. You have to show grace for your partner's imperfections (and accept and apologize for your own). This love might not burn as hot at times, yet there is a depth to it that is wonderful and sweet and fulfilling.

Kraft Paper Valentines

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I don't send Christmas cards typically, but I love to send Valentines. I also love making them. They are so fun and sweet. For this year, I made 5 different styles of cards. I like to vary them a bit depending on the recipient.

You're Sweet as Pie

I have a few stamps that I keep around for card making. This little pie stamp is one of them. I used a black ink to stamp the image, and then I went back with a magenta and light pink marker to add a little color. I really like how it turned out. I think this one might be my favorite of all the cards.

I decided to send this one to my dad. Growing up, we always bought Marie Calendar frozen pies. My dad loved them. I have this really distinct memory of being at the grocery store with my mom, and her asking if we needed anything else. I said, "what about a pie for dad?" She responded, "Dad doesn't need any pie" in a really exasperated, emphatic tone. We tease her about it, and it has been a family joke ever since. So, my dad's card reads, "Dad doesn't need any pie because he is sweet enough already." It's perfect!

Sending Hugs & Kisses

For this card, I used a mason jar stamp and then drew in little hearts with magenta and red markers. I went back over the hearts with a thin black marker to give them a more finished look. Next to the jar I stamped the X's and O's. On the inside I wrote, "Sending Hugs and Kisses Your Way". I made a few of this particular card. I think it works great for people who live in another state that I don't get to see as often.

I Like You a Latte

I saw this idea on Pinterest last year, and since I had a little coffee cup stamp, I had to make it. It works great to stamp the wording first, and then add a bunch of randomly placed cups around it. I used a black stamp to add the coffee cups and then went back in with a red marker to add the cheek highlights. I used a light pink marker for the top of the cup. I wrote a little note inside for my friend.

X's & Hearts

I came across this print idea on Pinterest as well. Moving down each row, I drew the hearts in magenta and the corresponding X's in red. Then I went back over them with a thin black marker. I think the black marker added a more finished touch. This print is great for friends because it is festive and fun but not overly sweet or trite. I wrote a little note on the inside to express my thankfulness for their friendship. This one could probably also work with a little note inside that says, "sending hugs and kisses your way".

I Like You & I Love You

This card is for Dylan, my husband. (He's forbidden from peaking at this post.) I used my mason jar stamp again and added little magenta and red hearts inside. I went back over the hearts with a thin black marker to make them look more finished. Then, I wrote "I like you and I love you" at the top. I like that the wording is cute and romantic, but the card itself isn't too over the top. I wrote him a note inside as well.

Well, there you have it. My Valentine cards for this year. Did you make or send any cards?