Valentine's day on a shoestring

My husband sometimes spends a lot of money on me to express his love which is lovely and always appreciated but the most vivid memories of how he shows that he loves me is when he makes me a card, buys me my favourite chocolate bar, or a bag of apples when I was feeling poorly!  Another way to my heart is making me one of my favourite meals that he cooks: Sayur Lemak (an Indonesian noodle dish) or fennel & courgette lasagne that he has worked really hard on and is absolutely delicious - so in other words romance can be achieved without spending much money.

This year for Valentines, I am going to cook a candle-lit meal for us both after the children are tucked up in bed.  This has been a tradition for us since having children.  Sometimes, we buy luxury ready meals but seeing as that would not be in the spirit of living on a shoestring although it is food, I will make a culinary delight this year - ha!  I hope it is a delight anyway!  Netmums website is great for food ideas and so is the BBC Good Food website.  I am also a fan of Nigella Lawson who has a knack of making meals that you would generally associate with eating out but can be achieved at home.

The menu will be:
Starter:
Potato cakes topped with smoked salmon and dill
Main course:
Tofu stir fry with vegetables
Dessert:
Vanilla apples with sweetheart croutes

All actually very easy and quick to prepare but hopefully appreciated as all home-made!

I have bought him a card and some socks as they are counted as gifts and I reckon the socks are needed so would qualify in any case!  In addition to making a romantic meal for tonight I made him ginger bread heart cookies as my home-made gift.

I will let you know if it is all a success!

Happy Valentines Day.