Valentine's Meals For Your Sweetie

One of the best Valentine's Day gift is something homemade. Any sweetie will appreciate either a homemade meal .Even if you can't cook you can come up with an easy and delicious table for two.

A lux breakfast in bed is always appreciated. A simple dish would be scrambled eggs with ham . Put it on croissants for a richer look and taste. Another easy breakfast dish is eggs Benedict. This is simply poached eggs on English muffins with a lemon- butter sauce. It's mixed with egg yolks for richness.It's the perfect dish to serve with mimosas , or Bellinis, peach nectar blended with champagne. If you're lucky to have lunch together, then think of a charcuterie platter. This is one for the easiest but also the richest tasting of all lunch time dishes. Start with buying a beautiful wooden charcuterie plate. (you can always reuse it at parties and holidays). Have an array of good Italian cold cuts such as mortadella, hard salami and prosciutto. Sopressata, a spicy Southern Italian dry salami is another good meat, perfect on sliced Italian or French bread. Cheeses are a must. Brie is perfect, especially on French bread but Gruyere and smoked Gouda are also good choices. Have a chilled Cabernet or Zinfandel  to sip with this tasty mix. You could also go old school with grilled cheese and tomatoes. Cut the grilled cheese into a heart . Get creative and drizzle sour cream into a heart shape onto the soup's surface.

Of course a Valentine's Day dinner is a big deal. Just remember that's it's just as easy to make surf and turf at home than ordering it at a restaurant. Keep in mind that the seafood could be anything from shrimp to lobster to crab. As for the beef, any cut will do, from a flank to a T-bone. Serve with a side of buttery string beans almondine and/or sauteed spinach. Cornish hens are another tasty and romantic night dinner. Spike up the flavor with a rub of powdered garlic and paprika and serve with brown rice. Want to impress with a night of exotic flavors? Then try tagine, the Morroccan hot pot of different ingredients and spices. The recipe does call for tagine pot , a kind of skillet with a triangular lid but you can also use a deep skillet or even a crock pot. A chicken one calls for a whole roaster cut up  and cooked with tomatoes, peas and carrots. Almonds and dried apricots are also essential to give it a true Moroccan vibe. You could also make a veggie tagine by subbing in chickpeas and butternut squash. If your sweetie is a vegan, then think about a Beyond Meat burger with all the trimmings. Use a cumin spiced Nayonnaise , vegan mayo with tomato slices and soy bacon. Serve with a big helping of air fried sweet potato fries with a home made tomato paste based ketchup.

Nothing says love more than a home cooked meal.It could be breakfast, lunch or dinner. As long as it's home cooked by a home chef with a heart and a kitchen full of love.

The Bathing Suit Diet

Now that it's May and we 're only a few weeks  - and in some areas - days - from bathing suit season, it's time to shed those pounds. It pays to eat right now as opposed to crash dieting when you're trying to fit a size 12 body into a size 8 bathing suit. Lose the flab  before you dig out the monokini or bikini.

It's tempting to make a hearty breakfast when the mornings still have a nip to them. Resist. If you do want something hot, then think of egg white omelets studded with spinach and mushrooms. Another great idea is asparagus and  a poached egg on a toasted English muffin.Poached eggs can also be tasty and low calorie when paired with mushrooms and tomatoes.If you love salads , then think about an egg salad,. This literal version has eggs, poached and scrambled paired with kale and asparagus. If having a vinaigrette is too strong in the AM then sub in lemon juice for the vinegar. Bacon would be good with it but, remember the real thing is calorie rich, A better choice is  Morningstar Farms soy bacon which is only sixty calories a serving (about twenty calories a slice). Oatmeal is always a good way to start the day. It also helps in reducing the low density lipoprotein or LPD in your body. Whole grain oatmeal  also boosts metabolism, the key component in losing weight. Try it with agave syrup and almond milk. You can also cut up apples and add cinnamon for an apple pie flavor.

What to do for lunch? Think tuna or salmon. Chicken of the Sea and Starkist have these handy packets of both kinds. The flavors include lemon pepper and sriracha which makes them ideal for mixing with salads. They're so  indulgent tasting even though the tuna is only eighty calories while the salmon is just seventy. The packets have  about seventy-four grams and are filling .If you don't want salad, then try them with plain Saltines for a light but satisfying lunch.Salad, either for lunch or dinner is always  good. Make it substantial with chickpeas , broccoli and peppers.Add some julienned strips of turkey and ham if you want to make it heartier. Remember to keep dressings light. Nix the heavy mayo based ones and make it a light vinaigrette. You can even jazz that up with crushed blue berries,blackberries or strawberries.Dinner should be a low calorie rice or bean bowl. The two can even be combined to create a good for you , satisfying supper.Use arborio rice instead of the long grain to make it special and more of a dinnertime dish. Toss in carrots , bell peppers and cherry tomatoes for color and flavor. Another idea is having salmon for dinner, Flavor  it with herbes de Provence and lemon for a more sophisticated turn. Serve with zucchini noodles or mandolined squash to round it out.

Bathing suit season will be here before we know it. Start shedding the pounds now by eating right and eating healthy. It's a great jump start to those days when less clothing is more.