What's for Dinner ~ Valentines Day Edition!

[Lucinda]

Happy Valentines day! ♥

What's for dinner where you are?

[HappyMe]

1. Happy Valentines day to you too!

We're having spaghetti & meatballs, spinach salad & garlic bread.

I made the sauce last night so it would be extra good today.

[yellerpup]

14. That's so romantic.

Spaghetti and meatballs always remind me of "Lady and the Tramp" which is one of the great romantic scenes of all time. Day old sauce, ahhh! That's amore.

[HopeHoops]

2. Something romantic like baked beans.

My wife's still in charge of the dojang until the Grand Master gets back from Korea (his mother is seriously ill - and HE'S 70!) He left her with the responsibility for the school while he's gone so she gets home from working all day and has to head over there for another two and a half hours or more. A backrub is on the agenda.

[yellerpup]

16. What a merciful Valentine you are!

A back rub will be a welcome gift.

[HopeHoops]

25. She had to deal with two classrooms of kids wired on sweets today. She needs it.

[yellerpup]

37. I'm happy she has you to look out for her.

She either has tons of energy or a strong sense of responsibility to deal with that after her day at work. Enjoy your evening!

[HopeHoops]

42. Actually, I ended up making pierrogies with fried veggies and fresh parmesan.

She still got the back rub - and went out - toast. I love her.

[yellerpup]

45. I know she appreciated every little thing

you did for her. That's true love!

[HopeHoops]

46. I got lucky.

[fizzgig]

3. the husband is cooking for me tonight :)

he told me i could pick anything, so i went with the butternut squash and bacon soup i found in the soup bible and i've got a loaf of the no-knead bread rising to go with it. i might grab some greens for a salad, too, because we're not so good at eating our roughage.

happy vd to you, too lucinda

[yellerpup]

17. Butternut squash soup sounds great.

I dream about the scent of baking bread. Sounds like a cozy evening.

[fizzgig]

27. i am so excited for dinner

and watching my husband break down the squash is exciting in it's own way....

[yellerpup]

38. Have fun tonight!

You're off to a good start!

[Denninmi]

4. Semi-homemade

cheese ravioli in a sauce made with Italian sausage and peppers. The cheese ravioli is frozen from the store, but the sauce was from scratch using home-canned tomatoes. I threw the sauce together this morning, dumped over the ravioli, put some parm and moz. on top, and put the whole thing in the fridge, ready to go into the oven tonight.

[yellerpup]

18. Such great flavors.

And sure to be satisfying. I miss cheese!

[WhollyHeretic]

5. Unfortunately nothing special. Something quick like veggie burgers and salad.

Last edited Tue Feb 14, 2012, 02:52 PM - Edit history (1)

We have our social worker (we're trying to adopt through the state) coming over for our quarterly visit. Not really a romantic night. We're going to celebrate Valentine's Day Friday night. We're both dieting so I've been trying to come up with a special meal that's pretty low calorie. I'm thinking beefless tips and mushrooms in a low-fat cream sauce, pommes de terre boulangère, and a low calorie creme brulee. I found a recipe on Hungry Girl for the creme brulee. http://www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/1112

Happy Valentine's Day

[yellerpup]

19. If your social worker is sitting down to dinner

I think you've got it made.

[yellerpup]

6. Happy Valentine's Day!

Tonight, something spicy! Not too heavy for lovemaking after....

Thai Shrimp-Halibut Curry, Brown Basmati Rice, Cucumber-Shallot Salad with Sesame Dressing, Crusty French Roll, and Chocolate Mousse. And, Beer!

Recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Thai-Shrimp-Halibut-Curry-364570

Happy holiday! \

Edit to add recipe link.

[livetohike]

7. Happy Valentine's Day Lucinda!

We're having Lasagna, a tossed salad and garlic bread .

[yellerpup]

20. That sounds really comforting.

I love garlic bread.

[cbayer]

8. My love wanted to take me out, but as we all know,

this is the worst night of the year for dining out.

So, I am going to make him something rich and delicious - Creamed Chicken with Corn and Bacon Over Polenta. The recipe sounds absolutely delicious and it is something we might even feed to each other.

Still stuck in 'merica due to weather and some plumbing issues.

[yellerpup]

21. Yummy.

We went out last night and are celebrating at home instead. That recipe sounds mouthwatering. Let us know how it turns out!

[cbayer]

24. Hi yellerpup!

Hope you and your have a wonderful Valentine's evening.

[yellerpup]

29. Hi, cbayer!

He loved it! Said it was one of the most memorable Valentine's meals yet. And, so simple! He's chowing on cheesecake now. H loves it and I can't have it, so I bought him a sampler of three kinds and some fresh cherries (for both of us) on the side. Hope yours was a groovy lovefest, too!

[ceile]

9. Salmon w/ a shallot/wine sauce

not sure about the sides yet. I love risotto, but I'm not sure I'm up to it tonight. Although, cilantro risotto sounds really good.....
And steamed asparagus. I have 3 boxes of thin mints in the freezer for dessert- 2 for me, 1 for him.

[yellerpup]

22. That's a sophisticated menu.

Cilantro risotto sounds fantastic!

[ceile]

47. Easy, but time consuming.

I use a simple risotto recipe from Joy of Cooking and just add what I want. Takes forever - but very yummy!

[yellerpup]

48. A good risotto is worth the extra time.

I bet it was yummy!

[northoftheborder]

10. Tuna salad, & angel food cake w/strawberries & van. ice cream. Easy.

[yellerpup]

23. Easy, but delicious.

Enjoy your evening.

[digonswine]

11. My sub-par curry-

with my mother's homemade mango-raisin chutney and yogurt.

Seriously--is there a great curry recipe that I can make with ingredients I can actually get?

I live in northern WI--very meat n' potatoes area!

[yellerpup]

30. I made Thai curry tonight.

If you can get fresh ginger and jalapenos locally, you can mail order the rest. The little jars of chile paste are fantastic and they last for a long time. I like hot foods but I rarely use the entire amount of paste called for in the recipes. Good luck!

The recipe is above.

[digonswine]

51. Thank you for the recipe-

I believe I can get all that stuff around these parts.

[yellerpup]

52. You won't regret it!

It was a huge hit at our house.

[grasswire]

36. may I introduce you to Eating Well magazine online?

It's a beautiful magazine, full of delicious and healthy foods.

www.eatingwell.com

Type *curry* in their search box. I think you'll be happy.

[digonswine]

50. Thank you!

[The empressof all]

12. Whoopsi

I just found a dozen chocolate covered strawberries stashed in the back of the Beer Fridge.

They better be what's for dessert!

[yellerpup]

31. How lovely to be wooed with strawberries

and chocolate! And beer!

[csziggy]

13. Asian Pork Chops with wild rice mix, salad, broccoli, and molten center chocolate cakes

The pork chops are marinating, the chocolate cakes are mixed and in the refrigerator, salad is ready to go, so the hardest parts left are cooking the rice and the broccoli.

Pork chops are loosely based on a couple of different recipes on AllRecipes.com, altered to adjust for what I have on hand and our tastes. The cakes are from this one: Chocolate Cakes with Liquid Centers

[yellerpup]

32. Right down my alley.

The cakes sound wicked.

[csziggy]

43. OMG - the cakes were amazing!

Last edited Wed Feb 15, 2012, 11:28 PM - Edit history (1)

I changed the recipe a little. Here is my version:

Mint Chocolate Cakes with molten centers

3/4 cup chocolate chips (Ghardelli Bittersweet and Hershey's Mint Chocolate)
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
4 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1/4 cup all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 400 F (mine oven runs hot and is a convection - other ovens may need to be a little hotter). Butter or spray 4 ounce custard cups and sprinkle cocoa powder all inside.

Melt chocolate and butter in microwave - 22 seconds at a time, stirring each time, until almost completely melted. Beat eggs and sugar until light and frothy; add extracts and chocolate, best until mixed. Add flour and beat just until mixed.

Pour batter into custard cups. It should fill them almost to the tops. Put the cups onto a baking sheet and into the oven. *** Bake for 10-12 minutes until the tops just crack and the sides are set. The middles will still be liquid. remove from oven and let sit for 2 minutes.

Run knife around the edges and turn out onto plates. Garnish as desired - sprinkle powdered sugar over the top, drizzle with caramel or raspberry sauce, put whipped cream on top, serve with ice cream, or with strawberries or raspberries.

*** After putting the batter into the cups, you can refrigerate the batter for a day or two. Some people say that refrigerating for an hour or more makes the cakes taste better. If you do refrigerate the batter, remove from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before baking.

From reviews of the original on AllRecipes, the cakes can be eaten cold with the centers going kind of fudgy. Or they can be reheated for maybe 30 seconds in the microwave to liquify the centers again.

We just put some whipped cream on top since we had that left over from strawberries last week. I think I would like them better with just Ghardelli Bittersweet chocolate, but my husband loves chocolate and mint together and I still have some mint chocolate chips in the freezer so I made the mint versions.

I used whole eggs since I had no idea what I would use the egg whites for and added a little flour to make up for the extra eggs and more chocolate. I think this recipe would scale well for single cakes with one egg per cake.

[yellerpup]

44. I'm definitely going to try these!

Thanks for the recipe and the review!

[csziggy]

59. I added a detail I forgot that makes these cakes even better

You can mix the batter ahead of time and refrigerator for a day or two. I mixed mine early in the afternoon, pulled them out of the fridge before dinner and let the batter get to room temperature before baking after dinner.

Another note - I baked all four yesterday. Tonight we had the leftover two cold. While they were still quite good, they were not anywhere near as good as fresh and gooey from the oven. Next time, I will bake two each night, or cut the recipe to just make two. Frankly, they are so rich I think I have exceeded my chocolate quota for the month!

[yellerpup]

60. What a boon!

Especially when you cook for two. That's a great pointer! Thanks so much!

[DrDan]

15. fish tacos - fresh amberjack from Ft Walton

yummo

[yellerpup]

33. Swoon.

I'm jealous.

[surrealAmerican]

26. I made lasagna ...

... from scratch, even the noodles. I'm just about to put it in the oven now.

[yellerpup]

34. Nothing beats homemade noodles.

Heavenly.

[GoCubsGo]

28. Curried carrot soup with tofu.

It's a hybrid of two or three different recipes. I had a big bag of carrots to use up, so I threw it in with some chicken broth, some sauteed onion and fresh chopped ginger, and some curry powder and cayenne pepper. Once the carrots were soft, I added some lite coconut milk and silken tofu, and took the immersion blender to it. I was a little leery about adding the tofu, but it turned out delicious. I'll make it again.

[yellerpup]

35. Those hybrid recipes often turn out great.

I think all the orange veggies go well with coconut milk.

[tammywammy]

39. Turkey sandwich!

Toasted whole wheat, turkey, pepper jack cheese, avocado & mayo, chips and a cup of Chobani honey yogurt for dessert.

Such a wild life...this is also my already packed lunch for tomorrow too.

[yellerpup]

53. Can't go wrong with a sammy like that!

All healthy...I bet you have a great complexion and sleep very well.

[noamnety]

40. We had ribs

marinated in a soy-ginger sauce, green beans cooked with bacon and vinegar, and pappadams with lime pickle chutney (low carb nachos! yay!).

[yellerpup]

54. Love those low carb nachos!

It all sounds delicious.

[grasswire]

57. isn't lime pickle the wildest stuff??

People either love it or hate it. I love it. But then I LOVE limes.

[noamnety]

58. It was a random purchase

on clearance at meijer along with a bunch of curry stuff. Now I'm thinking I should go back and snatch up all the other jars they had. (Or, you know, just look up how to make it.)

[Lugnut]

41. I had a container of halupki in the freezer.

I thawed that out and made a batch of mashed potatoes for supper. We went out for dinner on Saturday to avoid today's crowds.

[yellerpup]

55. What is halupki?

Although anything that goes with mashed potatoes would light my fire.

[Lugnut]

61. Sorry. I shoud've said stuffed cabbage.

I'm so used to using the Slavic word I forget that others might not know what that is.

[yellerpup]

62. Stuffed cabbage is always good.

No matter what you call it! Thanks for letting me know.

[kestrel91316]

49. Dinner just for myself: faux crab chunks and portobella mushroom chunks

in a cream sauce with a little thyme. Served over brown rice. Braised chard on the side.

The faux crab was really cheap (for seafood) - only about $5/lb!!! And I actually like it, lol.

[yellerpup]

56. I like faux crab myself.

Easy on the budget and rounds out a very nutritious meal.