Happy Valentines Day everyone!! I know a lot of people aren’t a fan of this day, another day where they can mark up flowers and chocolates, heck even the greetings cards are out of control these days, I went to by my husband one the other day and just about passed out. Usually I buy them for my mother and mother-in-law from my kids, sorry Nunny and Memere, you are getting homemade cards this year! 🙂 Besides home made ones are the best! I love this holiday only because it’s an excuse for my husband and I to get out, hold hands, play footsies under the table and just be with each other. ALONE. I started my Valentine’s Day activities with the kids early this year with my surgery scheduled for the 6th. However here I am exactly one week post surgery and I’m feeling pretty good. Madison is off to school for Valentine’s Day this year, I’m happy because she will be able to take part in her class party. Last year it fell on day where she was home with me. We happened to get a big storm that week. Read about what we did last year HERE. So for breakfast we had toast and strawberries, special request from MM. Hey I offered pancakes and she said nope, just toast please! So I’ve been wanting to try baking my eggs in the oven for awhile now, I saw it on Pinterest one day, actually breaking them and then baking them in the oven. So I broke out my heart cookie cutter and my heart baking dish and went to town for me and the kids yesterday morning!
I love looking back on last years holidays. I love remembering the good times, whether it’s with family or just me and my children. When I read last year I couldn’t believe how little my baby girl was and how pregnant this Momma was! What have done since last year. We had our son, Drew, a wonderful blessing into this world, we accomplished many milestones with MM, we had many of first holidays in our new home, we had three surgeries in the family, and this Momma cooked, baked and learnt a ton more about parenthood!! So since it’s Valentine’s Day I figured I share with your our latest Date night we had a few weekends ago.
My MIL took my daughter for the weekend, and thought it wasn’t all that grand for her, it was fabulous for us. Our once little girl who could sleep like a champ and go to bed with no problems has turned into a crabby toddler who has night terrors and who is terribly afraid of the dark. I’m not sure what happened, or if it’s just a stage but I’ll tell you it’s very frustrating and very exhausting at times, we can go weeks with barley one wake up and be fine then we go nights upon nights of screaming tantrums just to get her to go down at night never mind stay asleep. So when my MIL told me she would take her, I jumped at the chance. My husband was in a hockey tournament all weekend so it was nice to just have my little man and when hubby came home Saturday late afternoon I hit the kitchen and got to drink my wine and make us a pretty splendid meal if I do say so myself. It wasn’t as fancy as our last one, I didn’t get to print up a really nice menu, I guess I could have, but I had too much on my plate with getting ready for my surgery and actually enjoying the weekend we had without a toddler. So my menu consisted of texting this to my husband while he was playing hockey that day so he could look forward to what we were having for our date. We also had plans to watch a movie too, however he was happy to watch a lifetime movie with me, yes don’t judge folks it was based on a true story and took place back in the 1800’s and was actually really good. For an appetizer I knew I wanted a soup because my man was going to be outside all day in the frigid temps so I wanted something that would warm him up. I wanted to use the leftover ham I had so I wanted to make a Ham and Potato Soup of some kind but I also wanted to add corn to it and make it like a chowder. I did some research and again had to force myself to think outside of the box and just go with it and make it my own. I’m so glad I did because it was awesome! Most importantly it was simple!
Potato Corn and Ham Chowder
1 pkg. of shredded potatoes (I used Simply Potato) 1 can of creamed corn 2 cups of chicken or vegetable broth Sharp cheddar cheese (I used reduced fat) Cajun seasoning Green onions 1 cup of cooked ham In a sauce pan bring the broth to a boil and add the shredded potatoes, Cajun seasoning and roughly 2 green onions chopped. Once it’s come to a boil, lower the temp to low-medium and add in most of the creamed corn, leaving about a quarter of the can.
Using an immerse blender blend the soup to your liking. I left mine a little lumpy just to give it a little texture. Now add the ham and the rest of the corn. Mix to combine. Now add the cheddar cheese one handful at a time. I used reduced fat, you can use whatever you’d like, obviously the taste won’t be the same but with the seasoning trust me, it’s good! Stir melt and thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste and anymore cheese you may want. We gobbled this up and had leftover the next day too! I think I even froze some too!!
So there you have it, our amazing appetizer! This is a delicious and quick meal that can be ready in no time, top with scallions and some more cheddar cheese and call it dinner. I loved the idea of using the shredded potatoes, why not, they have the same flavor and I loved adding my own ham as well.
So moving on to the next course, well I came across this recipe in Taste of Home magazine that I get once a month. I always make a beef dish for my hubby for date night, but for once I wanted to make something for me!! So when I saw this dish I knew I had to try it! It has peanuts and peanut butter in it, of course I was going to love it! So now onto the main course. How delish does this look!!
Thai Peanut & Chicken Pasta
1/4 Cup reduced fat peanut butter
1/2 Cup of reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 Cup of lemon juice
1/3 Cup of soy sauce
4 tsp of Chili sauce
crushed red pepper flakes
12 oz of spaghetti or linguine
1 lb. of lean ground chicken
2 carrots, julienned
1 medium sweet red pepper, sliced thin
1/2 cup of finely chopped unsalted peanuts (I cheated, I used salted!)
4 green onions, chopped
Recipe: Taste of Home
Serves: 6Â
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 15 min
Total: 30 min
What to do: In a small bowl, whisk the first six ingredients until blended. Cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook chicken, carrots, pepper and garlic over medium heat 5-6 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, breaking up chicken into crumbles; drain.
Stir in peanut butter mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 3-5 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened. Serve with spaghetti. Top with peanuts and green onions.
There you have it again………..The Main Course!
At this point I have to confess my husband and I were pretty enriched in that show called Under Cover Boss. We were watching episode after episode! Normally I would insist on sitting at the table and having an actual date to talk, since we don’t get to talk about much “adult” things when our toddler is around. However I was hooked on this show too, eh date nights were meant to be spend doing what you enjoy so we went with it. Relaxed on the couch and mowed this dinner right down! Then came dessert. Well it didn’t come right away, we were full. Quite full. We watched the lifetime movie in our bedroom by the fire, yes I admit I dozed off, however it was perfect because I woke up wanting dessert!! Yes I did!! Of course I prepared these earlier in the day and they were chilling in the fridge all day but it was the perfect ending to a perfect night.
Pear & Strawberry Cheesecake……..In a Jar.Â
Ya I didn’t mess around this time!!! This is how I roll!
What you need:
2 Pears, diced
1 pint of strawberries, diced
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 box of vanilla wafers
3 ready made chocolate jello pudding (you can make your own if you’d like)
4 oz of light cream cheese
12 oz of reduced fat cool whip
Zest of 1 orange
1 tsp of vanilla
4 mason jars
What to do:
I started by crushing the vanilla wafers in a large zip lock bag with a rolling pin.
Then I poured a layer on the bottom of each mason jar. Feel free to make this one large dessert and put it in a trifle dish! These were really messy and hard to put together, I’m not proud of my pictures I tried so hard to make the layers pretty, I don’t know how people do it because I gave up after the first one!
I then put the stawberries, pears, orange zest and sugar in a sauce pan and boiled it on medium heat until it turned to liquid, then I set it on low and let it boil for about 15 min stirring here and there to let it thicken.
Once that was done I just let it sit on the stove but while that was thickening I combined the cream cheese, vanilla and most of the cool whip in my kitchen aid mixer (I saved a little top each dessert jar) use an electric beater if you don’t have a stand  mixer.
I got the jello ready by opening them all and I started to assemble the rest. On top of the cookie crumbs add some of the cool whip mixture. Then top that with the fruit mixture. Then the pudding. Then more of the cookie crumbs, more of the fruit and then top with rest of the cool whip mixture and dollop with the rest of the actual cool whip.
OMY!!!! Haven’t brought out the OH MY YUMMINESS in awhile guys! That my friends is a great dessert. I tried to make it as low fat as I could by using the reduced fat cream cheese. Make a bunch and store in the fridge for a party or friends. Deliver to a neighbor or heck keep them all for yourself! I shared mine with my Mom and Sis 🙂 Well………..I have to say it was another great Date Night for my husband and I. Now……….to get him to do this for me sometimes……..hmmmmmm…..
My printer is humming! Especially love the dessert 🙂
I hope you enjoy Gail, I know we did!! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂