We're having our special Valentine's Dinner early.

[Lyric]

The menu:

Stuffed red peppers (stuffed with a mixture of lean ground beef/pork, wild rice, mushrooms, herbs, onions, and red pepper chunks)
Sliced veggies lightly cooked in olive oil; we got a GREAT deal on some colorful mixes.
Roasted rosemary and sea salt potatoes



Dessert:
Valentine's Day Fresh Fruit Salad

I bought two cartons of mixed fresh fruit (which contain a mixture of strawberries, cantaloupe chunks, pineapple chunks, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. I also have two Golden Delicious apples cooling in the fridge, waiting to be chopped, and a bag of sweet white grapes.



I'm going to mix together some lemon juice, orange juice, and a little sugar, then soak the fruit in that for about an hour beforehand. Then the fruit will be drained well, portioned into parfait glasses, and lightly drizzled with a sauce made from strawberry cream cheese, a tablespoon of concentrated OJ, and some pineapple juice. Finally, I'll put a small dollop of whipped cream on top of each dessert, place a slice of strawberry cut into the shape of a heart and dipped in colored sugar as an accent, and voila!

Sound good? I think that, nutritionally speaking, this meal pretty much covers every vitamin in the book. LyricKid is gonna love it, though. And it's all so pretty!!!

:hi:

[tigereye]

1. mm, that sounds luscious!

nice ideas!

[Lyric]

2. It's a bit of a splurge for us, to be honest.

We can't usually afford a lot of fresh fruit and veggies. But this week, the local Kroger had some awesome deals on the veggies, and the fruit mixture cups were actually priced well; about $2-something for roughly a pint's worth of assorted fresh fruit and berries. So we figured that we could swing the pricey red peppers just this once. ;)

[tigereye]

3. we love red peppers here - sometimes we get em at stores that put em on

sale, or at the local food district, where there is less of a mark-up for fruits and veggies.



It's always hard since most veggies and fruits aren't seasonal and it costs more to get em here from wherever they are seasonal. Reminds one of why people used to or still can things...



Whenever I think about this I think about Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, where she and her family spend a year trying to eat only what they grow or purchase nearby. It's not easy, but it's an enjoyable read, if a bit didactic at times.