Long before COVID and Quarantines were a part of our lives, Hubby and I began a tradition of trying to have a weekly “At-Home” date night. We didn’t have a lot of money to eat out and we were both working crazy schedules when he was in school. This meant planning even a monthly date night out was really not possible. We often would buy the ingredients for the special meal on our usual grocery runs, but it was nice to keep an extra meal option in the freezer or pantry in case the shopping trip that week didn’t work out in time. Here is a guide for your own back up date night meal based on our experiences.
The Basics: Planning
Our plans usually consisted of a late / after the kiddo’s bedtime date where we watched an episode or two of one of our grown up only shows, like Game of Thrones (am I dating myself here?) and had a quick and easy meal that maybe the kiddos wouldn’t be interested in eating. Before the date started the kiddos would get some of their favorite easy to make foods and get to have a sleepover in the living room. When you are buying groceries for your extra meal, don’t forget to purchase similar freezer or pantry friendly options for the kiddos in your life. This makes the time prepping for the night easier for whoever makes it home first. One great thing about this being a back up option is that you can purchase your ingredients when they are on sale and if you have enough space in your freezer and pantry, you can get some variety in your ingredients. A variety of options always makes Hubby and I feel extra special. I cannot explain how, but maybe it’s like getting to order off of a menu rather than having a specific thing you HAVE to eat?
The Basic Formula
I try to follow a basic formula for these meals, you can tweak it to fit your dietary needs and preferences but the basic formula should work for most everyone. You need 3-5 things:
- A Protein Component
- A Vegetable Component
- A Starch/”Filling” Component
- An Appetizer (optional)
- A Dessert (optional)
I will run through a few basic tips for each item below but as long as they can be frozen or kept long term in the pantry and you like them, you are on the right track. For proteins, we tend to like steaks or porkchops, but we especially like to hit the meat counter and see what’s on special or has coupons. That’s how we found the steak medallions for the meal pictured, they were on special and something we wouldn’t normally buy but got to try at a steal of a price. When selecting veggies, I recommended spending some time in your frozen vegetable isle and looking for something different than you usually get. I often buy our family a lot of broccoli and peas, so I looked around a bit and found asparagus! I have also gotten us frozen cauliflower to roast and seen some great seasoned mixes that would be fun to try. Are you asking yourself what on Earth I mean by Starch/”Filling” Component? I figured. So the means something that will make up the bulk of your meal. My hubby and I like rice and pasta, but we don’t like a lot of white potatoes. This is a place to grab something easy you like that can bulk things up. I hate finishing a fancy date night meal and being hungry 30 mins later, ruins the mood a bit, no? I like the frozen premade pasta options and the microwave rice packages you can get in just about every flavor or style for generally low prices.
Make it Special
The last important thing I want you to think about is, “How do you make this special and not just routine?” We have fallen into that trap with having a date night every week, but with a little effort or a little extra money (usually around $10 or less) you can make things special. The risotto pictured above was my special thing for this date night. I found it frozen, but it still took a bit of extra time and attention than we usually put into these meals. That made it special for us though, it was something we didn’t normally get to have, and it was really yummy and so worth the time! Now for the other two items on the list above, appetizers and dessert. Spending a little extra money to get one of these items can transform a regular meal into something a bit more special. I really like to grab these on sale and that usually means we try something completely new to us. One time I got us frozen fried avocado slices that came with a dipping sauce and were amazing! They were a new product and so there was a coupon that made it very reasonable to try. If you don’t have any extra money, you can do some other simple gestures that make a big impact:
- Use the fancy plates, silverware, glasses, or napkins that only get used for special occasions
- Light a few candles on the table
- Make a special playlist of your favorite songs to listen to while you eat
- Talk about your plans ahead of time, plan a bit together, this helps build the excitement and brings you together even more
Enjoy Your Time
Now that you have read this super long post about the theory behind my madness, you may be wondering why I make things so complicated. From our experience, we learned that putting in the leg work ahead of time made it much easier for us to follow through with the plan for a date night. When you are working all the time, and taking care of those you love, and fitting everything else into your limited time, its easy to just skip the time you thought to spend on each other. But this is the time you most need to make each other a priority, so you can survive the crazy schedules with no time to breath by leaning on each other. If all the food is already in the house, fairly easy to prepare, and a bit special or exciting, its easier to put your date night plans into motion. What do you think of the formula? Will you give it a try for your special someone? Let me know what you came up with below!
