All You Need Is LOVE — and FOOD —This Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is coming up Tuesday, February 14th! That's less than a week away! Show the ones you love how much you care for them by cooking them a Valentine's Day menu ... breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. You won't break the bank with these sweet treats and plus we all know food is the REAL way to one's heart (that is definitely the case for my husband and two boys). So take some time to make the ones you love something special that they'll enjoy all day long!

These recipes are GREAT if you are super busy or work. If you stay home and have time you can always do the homemade version of each meal!

For Breakfast:

Pink Heart Pancakes with a Strawberry Smoothie

I tend to use an organic pancake mix as it saves time when my kids are in the mood for pancakes on a busy Tuesday morning, but you can make homemade too! Add a few drops of RED food coloring to the wet pancake mix until you reach the color pink you like. Make round pancakes as you normally would.  Take out a heart shaped cookie cutter and cut into the round pancake to get your pretty pink heart pancake.  I always add a little powdered sugar and cut up strawberries ... as it makes it look perfect for Valentine's Day! Serve it with a pink smoothie (milk, yogurt, splash of OJ and fresh or partially thawed frozen strawberries)! We use our magic bullet for the smoothies, but a blender is great too!

For Lunch:

Heart Shaped Sandwiches

Make your sweethearts their favorite sandwich on bread. Take a large heart-shaped cookie cutter and cut the sandwich into a heart. If you do not have a cookie cutter big enough you can always use a knife to cut out a heart shape. PB&J works great for these sandwiches but any sandwich will do. This year I'll do grilled cheese hearts for the kids and a turkey sandwich for my husband.

Pack all pink or red snacks in their lunch. Some ideas include a red apple, red raspberries, red fruit leather or cherry tomatoes.

For Dinner:

Heart-Shaped Pasta with Marinara Sauce

in North Kingstown carries great holiday items. I found heart-shaped pasta which I've seen every year there. I picked up two bags (they have regular pasta color and red pasta color hearts inside). You can easily boil this and add jarred marinara sauce. Nature's Promise by Stop and Shop is a good sauce if you're short on time. If not, you can make a homemade sauce pretty quickly by adding 2 tbsp. olive oil with 2 cloves of minced garlic to a pan. Heat for 1 minute and add one 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes and two 28 oz cans of sauce. Add a little salt and garlic power to this and cook for 1 to 3 hours, stirring every 10 to 15 minutes. You can add some shredded fresh basil towards the end for some extra flavor and parmesan cheese, of course. You can buy garlic bread or make it and serve the heart-shaped pasta with salad as well. And, if you want to splurge, add a bottle of red wine to the mix or fruit punch for the kids!

For Dessert:

Strawberry ice cream!

Buy your favorite brand, add chocolate chips, and enjoy!

Most importantly, Valentine's Day is not the only day to make your loved ones feel special. Try to make time to do this often. It will make everyone feel good ... including you!