Home Cooked Meal for V-Day

I'm making chicken parmesan tonight, with a nice salad and chocolate cupcake for dessert.

Butterfly a chicken breast, pound it lightly...then dip in flour, egg, and bread crum mixter (mixed with parmesan cheese).

Spray on both sides with Pam and bake for 25 minutes, add sauce and cheese bake and additional 5-10 minutes.

We are having chile colorado and spanish rice

Basa fish fillets in garlic lemon butter and grilled peppers! Any white fish works though! I marinade the peppers in some olive oil and balsamic vinegar before I throw them on the grill, and they come off amazing...even with the butter and if you eat two whole peppers this meal comes in under 500 cal!

My husband is grilling a new, juicy ribeye, baked potato and salad. Steak is always our go to meal for special occasions. Dessert will be the usual skinny cow.

We're having turkey chili tonight. But I make the following pretty often and it makes a nice presentation for a "special" meal:

Pork Loin with Winter Vegetables

2 lb. pork loin
1/2 lemon zest
2tsp rosemary
1 clove garlic - minced
black pepper
2 tblsp olive oil
2 cups butternut squash 1-2" chunks
2 cups carrots 1-2" chunks
2 cups parsnips 1-2" chunks
2 cups celery 1-2" chunks

Coat a baking pan lightly with some olive oil - rub off excess. Roll pork loin in mixture of remaining oil, lemon zest, rosemary and garlic. Place in center of pan. Arrange vegetables around pork loin. Bake at 450 for approx 45 minutes or until internal temp is 160-165. Set roast on cutting board to rest for 5 minutes. Slice at a slight angle into servings about 3/4" thick.

Makes +/- 8 servings - 209 calories

Fresh Filet of Sole Flounder - Create Marinade with 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil & Juice of 1 Lemon, Salt & Pepper. Marinade for 10-15 Mins before Cooking. Add a teaspoon of Olive Oil to the Pan, heat & add fish. cook on both sides for about 3 Mins. It's so delicious.
Add salad or some fresh veg on the side. My BF asked for some sauce before he had tasted & I said taste it first & see what it needs & he was amazed by how good it tasted. It's very health too.
You could make Sweet Potato wedges if you want to also, just cut into wedges & dribble oil over them on baking tray & put in oven on 350 for 30 mins.

If you've got to prep it all tonight then fish or shellfish is a great idea. Spaghetti alla vongole would be terrific. Or a shrimp risotto.

I've made melanzane alla parmigiana which mfp tells me is 285 cals in all. Also have a little home-made bread to go with that.
And as it's Italian, I've made a light tiramisu with light mascapone, egg whites, splenda and vanilla with a few coffee and rum soaked boudoir biscuits. That's about 200 cals. I don't think he'll realise that it's a healthy meal and I shan't tell him. Not very romantic, calorie counting.

We always order in for dinner but for lunch I'm spreading a picnic blanket on the living room floor and we're having sandwiches cut into quarters filled with chicken, turkey, pepperoni, provolone, cheddar, lettuce, pickles, mayo, mustard and with a olive/toothpick. Salad wraps which is just salad ingredients like cucumber and carrot, shredded inside a romaine leaf with ranch to dip in. And dessert is just strawberries and blueberries with chocolate pudding to dip. Also going to make some fresh apple juice and add a little carbonated water to it.

Sprinkle some rose petals around, play some generic french music and light a few candles and that's romantic enough for me ^_^

I'm making scallop stuffed shrimp, lemon risotto and roasted asparagus for my husband. Not exactly the most healthy thing in the world, but utterly delicious!

For dessert, a dark chocolate and raspberry cheesecake. I will probably cut these into squares and bring the rest into work tomorrow.

Check out skinny taste.com great recipes and easy too. Happy V Day

bump

We're having turkey chili tonight. But I make the following pretty often and it makes a nice presentation for a "special" meal:

Pork Loin with Winter Vegetables

2 lb. pork loin
1/2 lemon zest
2tsp rosemary
1 clove garlic - minced
black pepper
2 tblsp olive oil
2 cups butternut squash 1-2" chunks
2 cups carrots 1-2" chunks
2 cups parsnips 1-2" chunks
2 cups celery 1-2" chunks

Coat a baking pan lightly with some olive oil - rub off excess. Roll pork loin in mixture of remaining oil, lemon zest, rosemary and garlic. Place in center of pan. Arrange vegetables around pork loin. Bake at 450 for approx 45 minutes or until internal temp is 160-165. Set roast on cutting board to rest for 5 minutes. Slice at a slight angle into servings about 3/4" thick.

Makes +/- 8 servings - 209 calories

That sounds very similar to what we made last week, except we added rutabaga, sweet potato and turmips and did not add butternut squash.

I love, love, love root vegetables roasted with pork.

We'll be making a big batch of chili together tonight, always fun working together in the kitchen

Dinner itself though I'll either bake chicken breasts or salmon fillet with aztec blend (2 or 3 different rices, dried peas and a grain or two) which she's not expecting for when I go to pick her up for our swim... pool SHOULD be to ourselves due to it being the day it is.