Salad Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, cooked & cubed
1 c. small seedless grapes (chopped in half)
3/4 c. diced celery
1/4 c. green onion chopped
1 med. avocado cubed
2 c. strawberries, sliced
1/3 c. almonds, (buy already sliced)
1 bag Lettuce leaves (the greener the better)

Dressing:

3/4 c. mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. snipped fresh tarragon
2 Tbsp. lime juice

Directions:

1. Combine chicken, grapes, celery and green onion in a large bowl.
2. Mix mayonnaise, salt, tarragon, lime juice in small bowl.
3. Pour dressing from the small bowl over chicken mixture (in large bowl) and mix well.
4. Add chopped avocado and strawberries
5. Stir gently
6. Now layer into serving dishes, lettuce, salad mixture, sprinkled with almonds on top.

• Dinner - I guarantee that making dinner for her will impress her much more than any fine dining because of your genuine effort.
• Ambiance -  Romantic music  and decorations set the mood for the whole evening.
• Activity – Plan something memorable that you can enjoy together.
• Gift – Don’t forget your gift! A homemade card is always the way to go. Amazon also has a TON of romantic gift ideas.

Homemade Valentine Dinner Ideas

Here are three very simple dinner ideas. These will each take under 45 minutes to prepare. To add a Valentine flavor to it, just add V-day candies, chocolates, truffles, rose petals, etc. around the plate.

Barbecue Chicken Tenders

If you’re in a hurry, try this Honey BBQ chicken tenders recipe. It takes about 10 minutes to prepare. It goes great with just about anything. Add some mashed potatoes, and a bag of frozen veggies (microwave for 5 mins) and you’ve got yourself a full tasty meal.

Chicken Strawberry Salad

This Chicken Strawberry Salad recipe has a delicious blend of fruit and veggies. The dressing has a tangy lime flavor and the strawberries add a nice Valentine tart flavor.

Baked Salmon Steaks

If you have a seafood lover, here is a simple way to prepare some great salmon. Buy some frozen salmon steaks. Bake them at 350 degrees for 45 minutes wrapped in aluminum foil with your choice of lemon, lime, salt, or your choice of flavor. Serve on a bed of wild rice or spinach. For a side dish, steam some asparagus and carrots.

Almond Butter Chicken with Orange Sauce

This gourmet Almond Butter Chicken with Orange Sauce recipe is a creative way to cook chicken. Grill up some chicken breasts with almonds, then add a delicious orange sauce.

Romantic Valentine’s Day Ambiance

Decorations:

To set a romantic ambiance for the evening, start with some fancy Valentine’s Day decor. Something simple like a goblet (or even any clear glass will do) filled with yummy Valentine candy is a perfect start.

Here are some other decorating ideas:

• Chunky Candles or small table candles (not the long, tall ones)
• Garnish table with rose petals and red ribbon
• Sprinkle candies on the table
• Set out a box of chocolates, or make some homemade goodies. Try dipped Double-stuffed Oreos in melted white chocolate chips. Add some strawberries on the side. This is a fancy treat and doesn’t take long at all.

Music:

Here are a few playlists or albums that will really set the mood for the evening.

• Pride & Prejudice Movie Soundtrack – This is probably my wife’s favorite romantic music.
• Nora Jones (Come Away With Me) – She has some soothing love songs that every lady loves
• Josh Groban – You might not like but I guarantee she does!
• Top Romantic Songs – Here are some top romantic songs that include classics, modern & country

Valentine’s Activities

Here’s your chance to be creative and impress! Here are a few ideas to help get the creativity flowing:

• Dancing - Try dancing to a few different kinds of romantic music together. Let your woman know she’s special.
• Bake Dessert Together - V-day cookie decorating, cake decorating, banana split, sundae, berry or chocolate smoothies, etc.
• Play a Game with a Twist – Try playing a board game but change the rules to add some romance. Something like Squint with a Twist is what I’m talking about.
• Reminisce Together – Share journals, pictures, letters, home videos, etc.
• Movie – Watch your woman’s favorite romantic movie with her (it’s okay, it’s just one night).

Valentine’s Day Gifts

Last but not least is the gift. A homemade card expressing your love and appreciation will definitely show her how much you care. If you know her well enough, get one gift personalized just for her. For example, she may like bath and body products, books, a gift to the spa, music, a gift card to her favorite clothing store, etc. To add a final touch to the evening, here are some great gifts you can get online from Amazon.

Valentine Amore Romantic Gift Set – Bed of Roses Scented floating silk rose petals and tealight candles

Love Bug Chocolate and Candy Bouquet – A Great Valentines Day Gift!

A Big Kiss For You! Puppy Love Care Package Gift Box

Valentine’s Day Hearts Gift Tote

Message in a Bottle ® “CUPID” Personalized Gift

Sweetheart Chocolate Rose Candy Bouquet – 1 Dozen Red Roses in a Gift Basket

Hugs & Kisses Teddy Bear Gift Set

Please share your comments below, especially if you have more ideas. Happy Valentine’s Day 2011 – make it the most romantic one yet!

• Microwave about 10 chicken tenders on high for about 4-5 minutes or until well cooked (but not too dry!)
• Slice into strips
• Add a few tablespoons of honey barbecue sauce (or your favorite sauce)
• Stir and serve

This gets so hilarious. In fact my wife and I busted up laughing a few times because of some of the objects (can’t give any away!). You can also make actions with the cards as long as they stay touching the table. Every time your partner guesses correctly, you add a chip to your pile. That’s the cool thing about this game – you’re playing together and winning together (try to get as many chips as you can within a certain time limit). the challenge comes when you keep trying to beat your previous time.

So, if you really want to have some fun with this, try changing the rules a bit. Try making shapes related to what you like about each other, like talents, hobbies, characteristics, physique, etc. It’s a great way to get to know your partner even better and it will add some romance to your night.

• 1 large avacado chopped up
• 2 large servings of spinach or baby herb salad mix (I love the baby herb stuff)
• 1/2 cucumber
• 2 handfuls of raw almonds (sliced or chopped)
• 1 roma tomato
• Healthy salad dressing
• 2 servings of frozen chicken breasts (or tenders)

Heat up the frozen chicken for about 8 minutes in a covered container and it should be tender and well-cooked (make sure it’s all white, no pink). Simply mix up all the ingredients into two bowls and use your choice of salad dressing. I love Organic Litehouse Raspberry Lime Vinagrette:My wife prefers a homemade vinaigrette recipe that is delicious and much healthier. I’m sure she’ll post it soon

So after that, I was loaded with date night ideas. My wife grew up camping and absolutely loves the outdoors. Since we have young kids, it’s not easy going out on a camping trip, so the next best thing is to have a campfire in the backyard! We brought a table outside with our folding chairs one night, made smores, had treats, and talked and talked late into the night. She told me that this was her favorite date night yet since it brought so many good memories.

The thing I love about these kinds of date night ideas is that they are inexpensive, you can do them at home, they build your relationship, and they create wonderful memories.

• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 1 cup orange sherbet
• 1 banana
• 2 cups mango, sliced
• 2 cups ice
• 1 teaspoon lime juice

Thanks to SmoothieWeb.com for this recipe.

The other night we had almost a full moon and since it was a nice summer weekend, I thought I’d get a little creative. The first requirement is that you CAN’T have a real hot tub. Those are too expensive and too costly to maintain. Make a homemade one! It’s much more fun, WAY cheaper, and requires zero maintenance.

We used the kids’ inflatable swimming pool (yes, that picture above). I then CRANKED the hot water heater up to max (despite my wife’s concern):

Once that’s done you’ll need to find a hot water hookup in the house for the hose. That’s probably the trickiest part. Luckily we have some hookups in the basement that were built in for a washer that aren’t in use:

You might have to disconnect the washer temporarily to get to the hot water. The hot water will run out after a few minutes depending on the size of your hot water heater(s), so prepare well in advance. It might take a few fillups in the pool.

To add a little refreshment to the date night, we made some mango smoothies. Here is how they turned out:

This mango smoothie is amazing! I seriously think it beats Jamba Juice. Check out our easy recipes for two section for this recipe and enjoy!

BTW, the thing that made this date night the best was having the homemade hot tub nice and hot out under the stars. My wife said it was very romantic so a clear starry night is key!

Date Night Ideas: Medieval Story Time

Ever heard of the video game called King’s Quest? This is an OLD game originally made in the 80′s and there is a more modern remake of this game that is a lot of fun. I remember my wife telling me that she really liked King’s Quest as a kid and so I searched for it online and found the remake by AGD Interactive. It’s a free download! The remake is excellent and the graphics are beautiful (from AGD Interactive):

When you download this classic game, it comes with a PDF that tells about the story. It’s a fairy tale just as good as any classic. To start out our date night, I read her the short story without telling her about the game. In short, the story is about a kingdom (Daventry) which has 3 treasures stolen – a magic mirror, a magic chest, and a magic shield. Sir Graham, the main character in the game, is given the quest of finding the three treasures and restoring Daventry’s glory.  After reading the story, I said “we’ll finish the story later in the night, after we make these medieval tarts”.

Medieval Mini Fig Pies

So here’s the recipe for the night. These medieval mini fig pies are very authentic and they do take a bit of time to make but if you’re making them together, that can be a lot of fun. I enjoy trying new recipes with my wife because it gives us some time to talk and work together. These mini fig pies were fun to make. I found the recipe from a great blog called TastyTrix (also at CookEatShare). You’ll basically need some figs, a bunch of spices, and some ingredients to make the dough. Then you roll up the dough, cut it into circles and add your flavored figs in the middle, fry them and pour honey on top. When you taste these things you’ll see what I mean by authentic! The final result looks like this (from TastyTrix):

After cooking time, we “finished” the story and tried out King’s Quest 1 together. She was totally surprised and loved playing the game (I’m sure it brought back good times). We even got the kids into it later on (we finished the second one today). Try it out & have fun!

Ingredients:

• Plenty of cooked rice
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 2 frozen chicken breasts
• Sliced pineapple
• 1 can mandarin oranges
• Chopped carrots
• LaChoy noodles
• Any other tasty veggies

Preparation:

• Microwave the chicken breasts on high for about 8 minutes – the meat should be white. Cut it into bite-size squares.
• Mix the chopped chicken in with the cream of chicken soup & add a little water until it’s almost like a thick soup. Microwave this for a few minutes
• Pour your creamy chicken sauce over rice and add toppings

Enjoy!