Inexpensive ideas for Valentines Day… recipes, too.?
My husband and I are buying our first house & closing on Feb. 19th. Plus, our 2nd anniversary is March 10th. So we’ll be a little broke for V-day. I cook dinner every night… but if anyone has a recipe that tastes really gourmet & isn’t a pain in the neck to make, I’ll try it.
We went to Olive Garden last year on Valentines day & it was terrible. It took our waitress took forever & a day to come to our table. Then about 30 minutes to bring out glasses of iced tea, then another 45 minutes to bring out our food. My chicken was undercooked & cold. I sent it back & took another 25 minutes to get another meal… it was awful.
Here’s what I normally keep on hand or can easily get:
-White wine
-Olive oil, margarine, vegetable oil
-Baguette/french bread
-Garlic
-Spices/herbs: basil, crushed peppers (a lot of types of peppers), thyme, oregano, rosemary, salt, pepper, grill seasoning, lemon pepper seasoning, etc.
-Milk
-Boneless skinless chicken breasts
-Salad stuff
-Pasta
-Frozen vegetables
-Onions, potatoes, bell peppers
I don’t like fish.
chef2b77– those are the CUTEST little desserts!!! I’ll definitely make those! Thanks =)
A really easy thing that tastes good and looks nice is grilled chicken with lemon pepper. If you have a Foreman Grill, that will work, or you can bake it. All you do is put a little olive oil and lemon pepper on each side of the chicken, and throw it on the grill! If you’re going to bake it, put it in the oven on 350 for about 20 minutes (but definitely check the middle). Slice it, serve it over some pasta tossed with cheese, get a nice bottle of white wine, and you’re all set! 🙂
the first website has desserts the second one has dinners hope this helps =)
http://www.hersheys.com/valentines/recipes/
http://www.recipetips.com/recipes-collections/valentines-day/valentines-day-recipes.asp
References :
A really easy thing that tastes good and looks nice is grilled chicken with lemon pepper. If you have a Foreman Grill, that will work, or you can bake it. All you do is put a little olive oil and lemon pepper on each side of the chicken, and throw it on the grill! If you’re going to bake it, put it in the oven on 350 for about 20 minutes (but definitely check the middle). Slice it, serve it over some pasta tossed with cheese, get a nice bottle of white wine, and you’re all set! 🙂
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My husband and I had a "lite" Valentine’s the year we bought our house, too. 🙂
anniversary chicken from allrecipes.com with canlight and rose pedals on the table
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Chicken Francaise(it is Delicious, very light and goes perfect with white wine), salad, veggie medley, then cut potatoes into quarters and bake with olive oil and garlic…you can even toast your french bread in the oven with olive oil and some oregano/salt pepper/garlic.
Then for dessert you! 🙂 place some candles around dim the lights…Wear something sexy just for him. That will be his favorite part!
CHICKEN FRANCAISE
1 lb. skinless-boneless chicken breast
1 egg
1 tbsp. lemon juice
Bread crumbs (plain)
Grated Parmesan cheese
1 stick butter
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
3 cloves crushed garlic (or to taste)
2 tsp. parsley
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 c. chicken broth
Slice chicken as cutlets or strips. Beat together with fork, 1 egg and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Mix plain bread crumbs with grated Parmesan cheese (1 part cheese to 2 parts crumbs). Dip chicken pieces in egg mixture and then in bread crumbs mixture. Brown in oil. Set aside in baking dish.
For sauce: melt together 1 stick of butter and juice of 1 1/2 lemons. Add 3 cloves crushed garlic (or to taste), 2 teaspoons parsley, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and 1 cup chicken broth. Simmer 10 minutes; strain if desired. Pour over chicken in baking dish. Bake covered 40 minutes and then uncovered 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve chicken over rice.
References :
cooks.com
Here’s a good recipe, that you could serve with a green salad and oil-vinegar based dressing; plain pasta (butter & Parmesan cheese) and some garlic bread… (and those cute heart-shaped brownies from that other answer)
CHICKEN MARENGO
1 tsp seasoned salt
2-3 whole chicken breasts (cut in half)
1 pkg. spaghetti sauce mix
1/2 c. bread crumbs
1/4 oil
1/2 c. white wine (drink the rest with dinner!)
3 tomatoes, quartered
1 c. fresh mushrooms, sliced
Sprinkle salt on chicken. Mix spaghetti sauce mix with bread crumbs and roll chicken in mixture. Fry carefully in med-hot oil in frying pan. Add wine, tomatoes, mushrooms & sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over all. Cover, turn down heat and simmer for 1 hour (or until chicken is tender)….Or, refrigerate in baking dish after assembling it, and bake later at 350 for 1-1/2 hours ……serves 4
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