We have never made a big deal of Valentine's Day all 6 years we have been together. We give each other a card, he maybe gives me some flowers (most of the time it's just a single rose, which is totally fine), and we go out to a moderately priced dinner - nothing ever really fancy, but I guess just a little bit more special than our typical weekly Saturday Date Night. No gifts. No candy. Nothing crazy or expensive. This year, however, is the first year that we decided to stay in. Pretty much every year I have dabbled with the idea, but have always thought that cooking, cleaning up, and hanging out in my own house did not seem as romantic as going to a crowded, loud, and anything-but-intimate restaurant. However, in that crowded restaurant, I do not have to cook or clean.
Because financially we did not have much of a choice this year but to stay in, I decided to make the best of it. And I was pleasantly surprised! We had such a lovely and romantic evening!
Mr. Sophie (I love Pride & Prejudice and 19th century literature, so I like to call him this!) cannot cook to save his life. However, for our romantic night in, I commissioned him to cook alongside me so it felt more like we were actually spending the evening together.
It turned out that creating something together was incredibly romantic! I loved that I got to spend so much quality time with him and we worked as a team to create some pretty yummy noms. We put on some romantic tunes by some of our faves like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Ella Fitzgerald and then we ate our creations by candlelight with a couple of glasses of Sauvignon Blanc.
And the best part? His gift to me was cleaning up!
We made a simple salad of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, store bought cheese-garlic croutons, store bought Italian dressing, and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
For dinner, we made Chicken Spinach Alfredo Lasagna Roll-Ups (keep scrolling for the recipe!)
And lastly for dessert, we made Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter Trifles (again, keep scrolling for the recipe). I thought this was perfect as it was so easy to make the recipe to suit just two people without having any leftovers. Since it was Valentine's Day, we decided it was OK to be a bit decadent, but we need to get back into our normal healthy(ish) routine. Plus, our honeymoon to Malta is coming up in May, so I need to watch out before we hit those Mediterranean beaches!
So my advice to you? Opt for a romantic date night in! Yes, cooking, cleaning, and spending quality time together in your home can be and IS romantic! Have fun and enjoy each other's company.
Chicken Spinach Alfredo Roll-Ups
(Makes 10-12 rolls - each person eats 2-3 rolls)
1 package of your favorite lasagna noodles (I used Dreamfields)
2 large chicken breasts, boiled and shredded (use 2 forks to do this)
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 jar of your favorite jarred Alfredo sauce (I guess you could make your own if you want)
1 small container of ricotta cheese (I think the 10oz size? I forgot to look)
1 egg
2 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese (1 store bought package)
1/4 cup (plus extra for sprinkling) Parmesan cheese
1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
Parsley for sprinkling (optional - it's just for decoration, really)
Salt
Pepper
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cook noodles according to package directions. Once noodles have cooked, drain in a colander and rinse them under cold water. This will remove the starch so they don't stick together and will also cool them so they will be easy to work with.
3. While noodles are cooking, in a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix together ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste. After you have mixed all ingredients well, add about 1/4 cup (you can be a little more generous of you want) of Mozzarella cheese. Mix again to incorporate.
4. In a larger mixing bowl, add the ricotta mixture, shredded chicken, and spinach. Mix well with a spoon.
Look how pretty!
6. Spoon some Alfredo sauce over the noodles and top with Mozzarella cheese. For both the sauce and the cheese, use however much you are comfortable using. If you want your lasagna super saucy and cheesy, use whatcha got! If you are trying to keep it kind of low-cal, you can use less (the latter is what we did). Sprinkle the top with Parmesan cheese and parsley.
7. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes so that the cheese gets a little browned and bubbly.
8. ENJOY!
While dinner is baking away to delicious goodness, you have time to make dessert!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Mini Trifles
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk (I used almond milk)
Jarred fudge sundae topping
Whipped cream
About 6 cookies (I used Chips Ahoy since that is what I had on hand)
2 small cups (like punch-sized)
1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla, and milk until combined and looks like a mousse. You can use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or handheld mixer - both will work.
2. For each trifle, crush a cookie and place in the bottom of cup.
3. Spoon peanut butter mousse over cookies.
4. Spoon some fudge sauce over the mousse.
5. Repeat until all mousse has been used up (two peanut butter layers per trifle)
6. Top each trifle with whipped cream and crushed cookies.
(Recipe adapted from original recipe here: http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/tagalong-peanut-butter-parfaits/)
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