Serves: 5
February - the month of love! Valentine's Day is traditionally a day for couples, but below are some really fun ways to involve the whole family in the holiday! If you don't have more than just your sweetheart with you, these ideas can be easily adapted to create a fun Valentine's Day for just you and your loved one as well. I wanted to quickly share one of my favorite Valentine's Day memories, just to get you in the lovey-dovey mood!
My husband, Ben, and I were married in March 2006, so we had just missed celebrating Valentine's as a married couple. So, the next year when Valentine's rolled around I wanted it to be so special! However, we had just moved into a new apartment-on February 13th! Our place was a sea of boxes, packing materials, and bubble wrapped artwork, not to mention that I couldn't even cook anything fancy since all of my kitchen things were still packed! We were your typical poor college students, so a big, fancy night out on the town was out of the question for our little budget, not to mention neither of us wanted to fight the crowds.
So, in a moment of brilliance, I stopped by the grocery store on my way home from work... I always beat Ben home by at least 30 minutes, so when he came home I had a candlelight "picnic" laid out on the floor of our living room in a small space I had carved out of the piles of boxes! We had a "blanket" (some towels that were wrapped around my vases), candles (little votive ones, since that's all I could find), and a delicious dinner consisting of deli salads, potato wedges, and chicken! I even found a bottle of sparkling cider and some "glasses" (they were plastic and had some strange logo on them!) for a toast! It turned out to be one of our favorite memories together, including when one of my precariously stacked towers of boxes fell over halfway through the meal! I hope you and your families enjoy celebrating your love for each other this month! Happy Valentine's Day!
Start The Day Off With a Little Love - Valentine's Breakfast 
Since breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you can use it to let your family know that they are the most important thing in your life! Start off with heart shaped toast-once your toast is ready, use a cookie cutter to make the heart shapes. Spread with strawberry or raspberry jam for that touch of red that every heart needs! You can also make heart shaped pancakes! Several stores sell a silicone shaper for eggs or pancakes so it can stay right on the griddle and not melt. (I recommend Bed, Bath, and Beyond or Hobby Lobby for these.) Lastly, every breakfast should have a little fruit in it, so try these tasty, fruity, healthy hearts! Take a piece of watermelon (seedless is best) and again use that large heart cookie cutter to get that heart shape. Skewer each heart with a bamboo skewer and then complete the arrow with an orange slice tip and tail!
A "Love"-ly After-School Surprise 
A fun thing to do while the kids are at school (or at work, if you're doing this for someone besides your kids!) is to "heart attack" their bedrooms! You will need heart confetti (purchase it or make your own), conversation hearts, and a big bag (or two!) of Hershey's chocolate kisses. Sprinkle the confetti and kisses around the room on the floor, their bed, and anywhere else you want. Then, get a large red or pink poster board and cut it into a heart shape. On the large heart you can write a love note to the bedroom's occupant. You can also put little valentine's on their bedroom door. One time my sisters even hung strands of crepe paper like a bead curtain across the doorframe of my bedroom and closet doors!
Share the Love - Valentine's Dinner
I have included some recipes below for a delicious Valentine's Day dinner consisting of heart shaped pizza, festive Red Bell Pepper soup, and chocolate covered strawberries. Serve the dinner with cherry Sprite for a dash of pink, or you can even color your milk pink with a little bit of red food coloring or strawberry milk powder! While you are having dinner, each person can share something they love about the person to their left, then their right, then straight across! This is a fun dinner that will have a "love"-ly memory attached to it for years to come!
This KITCHEN REMEDY: "Sweet"-en Up Their Valentine's! recipe is from the 2012 HomeCook'n Collection Cookbook. Download this Cookbook today.
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