Our First Married Valentine's

I definitely don't put too much weight on Valentine's Day, but it turned out to be a lovely excuse for us to celebrate our relationship. Friday night we went out to dinner by ourselves at a Japanese steak house and had a really great time. There was a long wait and we talked like we were on a first date, just "chatty" with each other. It was so sweet. Saturday night we got Italian at a beautiful restaurant in downtown Durham, my parents' treat! We ended dinner wtih amazing gelato. I got pistachio, Matt got banana, mama got coconut, and daddy got strawberry. Heaven! Sunday we found time to play video games together which is probably one of Matt's favorite things to do with me. We also swung by Victoria's Secret and each got a little $10 stocking-stuffer-size perfume bottle. A new sexy fragrance for each of us to enjoy. Sunday night my grandparents took us out for seafood. All of that eating out made us feel like we were out of town for the weekend. It was a treat, because we certainly can't do that all the time.

Today I planned out 8 meals and headed to Kroger. I'm happy to be back in the kitchen.

Tacos with corn, spinach, and goat cheese

1 lbs ground beef

1 tsp chili powder

1 cup corn, thawed (if frozen) drained

3 loosely packed cups baby spinach

salt and pepper

flour tortillas

1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

1/2 cup salsa

Heat a large skillet over med-high heat. Add the ground beef, 1 tsp chili powder. Cook until all of the red is gone and then drain. Reduce heat to medium, stir in another 1/2 tsp chili powder and add the corn. Cook, tossing, until heated through, about 2 minutes. Add the spinach and a pinch of salt and pepper and toss until wilted. Fill the tortillas with the mixture, goat cheese, and salsa.

Spanish Rice

1 cup white rice

1 1/3 cups water

2/3 cups salsa

I tried this in the rice cooker tonight and it didn't work very well! I'll probably do it again, but it kind of burnt on the bottom and was much dryer than when it's done on the stovetop. It was definitely not good enough for me to recommend it but if you would like to try at your own risk, feel free. Otherwise, simmer, covered, for 20 minutes on the stovetop.