Valentine's Day is already TOMORROW! How does time fly by so fast? We want to know your Vday traditions, so please comment them below! If you're looking for a new way to do Valentine's Day, we have a few ideas for you. You may be like everybody else, and you probably always try to go out on this day of love. And most times, instead of having a great dinner filled with many "lovey-dovey" moments, it's filled with frustration, impatience, tension, and worst of all, being hangry. Now that's NO way to spend Vday.
To spare you this heartache on a day made for sweet cherished memories, we wanted to share some ways to have a special dinner, away from the restaurant and chaos, and with the one you love.
1. Make dinner together at home
So this has got to be one of our favorite ideas! Instead of facing the crowds, stay in with your loved one and cook a lovely dinner together. By cooking a meal yourself, you also know exactly what is in it, and you don't have to worry about if a restaurant has a plant-based option or not. To get an idea of what to cook, you can browse through Pinterest or amongst other vegan/plant-based blogs. There are always a variety of dishes to try! You can cook one of your favorites, or find something that you both have never tried and make the evening more adventurous. Go to the grocery store a couple days prior and gather all of the ingredients you'll need (by going earlier, you'll avoid the grocery store crowds as well). You can even create an atmosphere of love by buying Vday decorations and bedazzling your whole kitchen! You can get balloons, cute Vday placemats, bouquet of flowers, pink heart cutouts, love banners, etc. There are so many options. If you're looking for a cheaper route, you can even just go to Dollar Tree!
Start your evening with a homemade salad (checkout our blog post on oil-free salad dressings that you can make at home). Then prepare all of your ingredients for your entrée and start cooking! A great food idea, would be "Make your own Pizza night". You could do heart shaped crust, a marinara sauce, and all of the plant-based toppings you can imagine. Eat your heart out. And have fun with your loved one! Do all the cliché things like spraying each other with the sink spray nozzle, putting frosting on each other's noses, and whatever else you'd like. It's an evening for just you two, where you can relax, eat when you want, and not have to worry about the crowds of people surrounding you.
2. Order dinner in
Now THIS is the perfect idea for the couple that wants to avoid the crowds AND avoid doing the dishes. There are many restaurants that offer delivery on their food, and there are various delivery services to get these meals to you. A couple days prior to Vday, you can start looking into nearby restaurants that offer delivery on plant-based meals. Since every place doesn't do delivery, doing this ahead of time will save the headache of doing it the day of. By having it delivered, you will be able to enjoy a freshly made meal delivered right to your door, and not worry about doing any cleanup. It's the perfect night! Instead of cleaning up, you can play a game, watch a movie, go for an evening walk, or whatever else people do on Valentine's Day.
If you need an idea of where to order from, you can always order from Little Green Forks, a 100% plant-based food delivery service that offers freshly made meals. All you have to do is heat em' & eat em'! No cleanup required. One of the most popular dishes at Little Green Forks is our Lasagna. Italian cuisine tends to be a popular choice on Valentines Day, so join in on the fun! You can even order one of the salads such as the Quinoa Kale Salad or Southwestern Salad to pair it with. If it's your first time ordering, you can use the coupon, "BOGONEW" to buy one entrée and get one more free!
3. Do an evening picnic
This idea is a little more romantic, and gets you out of the house! Depending on the weather, an evening picnic is the perfect choice for the adventurous couple who likes to feel the night air and oversee the city lights. For this choice, you can actually mix in one of the top 2 choices as well. You can either go to the grocery store and buy your own picnic spread with fruits, crackers, and spreads, or even make a meal at home to pack and take with you for a picnic. You could also choose food to get delivered and if it doesn't need to be heated, then you can take that with you instead!
For example, all of the Little Green Forks salads can be taken to go and make the perfect picnic dinner. After you have the food choice down, make sure you pack up all of your picnic gear including utensils, napkins, blanket, glassware, drinks, etc. Then, you want to pick your location! We recommend the highest spot you can find whether that's in a mountain area, near the beach, or overseeing the city from the top of a parking structure. Having a delicious plant-based dinner + a beautiful view + each other = the perfect Valentine's Day.
Whatever you do, we hope you enjoy it with the one you love. And if you have any ideas for Valentine's Dinner, share them with us below! We would love to know.
Happy Valentine's Day!