Valentine’s Day Menus on a Budget
While it may seem romantic to go out to an expensive restaurant and spend hundreds of dollars on one meal, there’s really no need. Having Valentine’s Day dinner at home is much more romantic and costs a fraction of what an expensive restaurant may charge. If you’re on a budget this year, don’t think for one minute that you have to skip on a delicious meal. There are several menus to choose from that cost less than $50 for two people.
The Classic Steak Dinner
Instead of throwing down over a $100 in a fancy restaurant, you can actually make a delicious steak dinner at home for well under $50. During Valentine’s Day, many grocery stores offer more expensive cuts of meat on sale. You may find New York strip or even t-bones on sale for around $5 per pound. This is a huge saving off what you would pay in a restaurant. You can pair the steak with large baked potatoes, steamed broccoli, side salads and rolls. If you want to dress up your meal, try adding fried slices of mozzarella to the top of the salads. Of course, when the steaks are so affordable you can even afford to purchase a decadent dessert at your local bakery. Or, even surprise your partner with chocolate covered strawberries.
A Romantic Italian Dinner
When people think of a romantic Italian dinner, they can’t help but think of “Lady and the Tramp”. The movie made the simple spaghetti and meatball dinner into a romantic feast. The best part is a spaghetti dinner is perfect for almost any budget. A large box of spaghetti can be purchased for less than $4and a large jar of sauce will cost around $4 as well. If you want to add meatballs, you can prepare these yourself for less than $5 for a large batch. All you need to add is a side salad and garlic bread. You can even afford to add a bottle of wine. Of course, if you find spaghetti to be too mundane for Valentine’s Day, you can make almost any Italian dish for an affordable price. Fresh pastas can be found in the dairy section of most grocery stores for around $5 and you can find frozen gourmet pastas for less than $10.
Fondue for Dinner and Dessert
There are few things more romantic than feeding your partner. This is why fondue is so incredibly perfect for Valentine’s Day. You can prepare a cheese fondue using simple ingredients including butter, flour, chicken stock, wine and your favorite cheese. You can then dip in vegetables and pieces of bread. Another option is to make a hot oil fondue in which you cook vegetables and meat. To keep the price low, you could thinly slice sirloin which can be purchased for less than $5 per pound. You can also save money on the vegetables by picking different vegetables from the store’s salad bar rather than buying large packages of each vegetable. As for a dessert fondue, all you need is heavy cream, chocolate chips and maybe a shot of liquor. You can then dip in pieces of pound cake, marshmallows, pretzels and fruit.