valen-times

Holidays are more fun when you work with elementary kids. On Tuesday they came running in with their decorated cereal boxes filled with candy. The kids wished me a happy "valen-times day" and many of them gave me valentines. One boy in particular reached into his bag and pulled out a valentine from "Karlee" and gave it to me. I felt very special ;)

Brent and I decided the first year that we were married that we would do Valentine's day at home. With Christmas, New Years, our Anniversary, Valentine's and Brent's birthday all in a row going out to eat, traveling, and big gifts are not feasible for all of them. So we make dinner together every year. When we were first married I found this alfredo recipe in one of the family cookbooks we got. It was easy to make and SO GOOD! We ate it a lot.... and put on a lot of weight. Now that we eat a bit healthier, we save this dish for our annual valentine's treat.

The best part of fettuccine alfredo is that while it tastes rich, it is pretty cheap to make. Total cost of ingredients for the fettuccine alfredo was about $5. So I got a lobster tail that was on sale and cooked it to crumble on top. It was much cheaper than eating out and I like ours better than the restaurants.

lobster tail with just a little bit of lemon juice

to put on top of the pasta

sliced wheat baguette with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping

I added a side of baked asparagus. Just drizzle with olive oil

sprinkle with salt and bake at 300 for 15 minutes. YUM

Our cute little table all set

Since we splurged on calories for dinner, for dessert I

made a sugar free devils food cake with low-fat whipped

cream and strawberries

We decided to eat it straight out of the pan.

After dinner we made a fort in our front room

We snuggled and watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

I promised Brent I would never ask him to get me a soda

during the 4th quarter of an NBA finals game.

We played a few rounds of Skip-Bo, our new favorite game.

I won :)

It was one of the best Valen-times I can remember. I am already looking forward to the alfredo for next year.

Here is the recipe for the delicious alfredo sauce:

(not for the dieters)

1 cube butter

2 tablespoons cream cheese

1 pint heavy cream

2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

combine butter, cream cheese and heavy cream in a pan. Heat until ingredients are melted and well mixed. Add cheese and garlic powder and simmer on low for at least 20 minutes (I usually let it simmer for 45 minutes-hour so it gets nice and thick). ENJOY :)